Halo: Screams in the Dark
by UNSC Spirit of Fire
Summary: S107, Tom, and his Spartan Recon Team were headed for Scion 4 when something went terribly wrong. A new type of Flood broke out on the ship, and has consumed everything. Now, they are engaged in a desperate struggle to reclaim control of their vessel, complete their objectives, and escape. But time is of the essence, and ONI's secrets drag them closer to failure with every second.
1. Chapter 1

ONI Sloop **Winter Walker**

CRYO Bay 17

Spartan Recon Group Delta: S45 Jai "Boomer", S79 Remy "Psycho", S24 Jackson "Blade", S107 Tom "Boss"

Objective: Destroy/Disable Covenant Shipyards in orbit over Scion 4

Early Release

S107 Tom, CRYO Tube 14

Tom's eyes opened up to the ice-encrusted glass of a CRYO tube. He couldn't see a thing, but all he knew was that he was partially awake and freezing. He felt a warming sensation, but as he regained control of his mind, his training kicked in and he realized that he was being warmed up to fast. All of the sudden, his CRYO pod opened up, and he came falling out, wearing nothing. He got on his hands and knees and threw up the gel in his stomach. He looked around and saw blood on the walls and bodies lying everywhere. But he saw something that made his skin crawl.

The CRYO officer was screaming, and something was dragging her body. Before Tom had the chance to do anything, the creature had drug the dying woman through a hole in the wall and out of sight. He heard the most horrific scream and then all went quiet. When he stood up, he heard a howl that was neither human nor Covenant in origin, and another one of the creatures ran for him from behind. He turned and charged right back and hit the monster twice in the chest. He heard the creature's ribs snap, and when the creature reared its head and screamed, he jumped on it, grabbed its head, and twisted. The thing fell quietly, but when he turned to walk away, it grabbed him and tried to rip his leg off.

Tom turned around, kicked, and broke the creature's forearm. He scrambled to his feet and ran out an open door. He caught a glimpse of a sign that lead to the medical bay, and he sprinted in the direction in pointed. He stole a glance behind him, and saw about 7 of the creatures running after him. He looked forward and ran twice as fast. After about a minute, he saw a blast door closing, and as he dove through, a Flood form jumped out a grabbed him. He kicked him through the closing doors, and when he got up, the doors clacked shut and locked into place.

Tom turned away and began to jog the last few meters to the medical bay. He heard mumbling, and he entered the medical area cautiously.

"DON'T MOVE! DON'T YOU MOVE A GOD DAMN MUSCLE!" someone yelled. He saw a man aiming a pistol at him. He did exactly as the man said, who began to walk carefully towards him.

"Who are you? Are you infected?" the man asked, obviously scared into hysteria.

"I'm S107, Tom. No, I am not infected." Tom replied coolly.

"You just get out of CRYO or something?" the man asked a little more calmly.

"Yes I did. Enough about me. Who are you and what the hell happened to this ship?" Tom asked. The man lowered his weapon and answered "Corporal First Class Robert, sir."

"You didn't answer my second question."

"It's the Flood, sir."

"The Flood? How the hell did Flood get on this ship?"

"Long story, sir."

"I guess it'll have to wait. For now, I need you to help me get to the Spartan Armories fast. Do you know the way?" Tom asked.

"Yes, sir, I do know the way. But sir, this ship is CRAWLING with Flood."

"I know, Corporal, but either you get me to the Armory, or you can wait till you run out of bullets." Tom stated, seeing the terror in the Marine's eyes. After a few seconds, "The Spartan Armory isn't far. Follow me, sir."

Tom nodded to the man, and they began to jog down the hall.

"Are there any more of you, sir? Spartans, I mean?" Robert asked nervously.

"Yes, trooper, my Recon team is still in CRYO. Which is why we need to hurry." Tom replied. The Marine nodded and sped up to a run. They zigzagged their way through the ship for about 30 minutes, moving around barricades, bodies, and a lot of blood. When they finally reached the armory, Tom looked for his locker. When he found it, he put on his black jumpsuit, and walked into the machine that would put his 1.5 ton armor on him. When he stepped out of the armorer, he was wearing his Recon Chest Armor, ODST Shoulder Plates, and EVA Helmet, colored Blue and Green with a Black visor.

_So much more comfortable…_ Tom thought.

"We need to go back to CRYO." Tom said to the Marine.

"Oh HELL no! I will not go back in there!" Robert yelled.

"Trooper, I am ordering you to follow me, now GET MOVING!" Tom commanded.

Just as the Marine was about to protest, they heard a chorus of screams.

"Shit." Tom said to himself.

"Aw, man, we're fucked! WE'RE BOTH GONNA DIE!" Roberts yelled.

Tom set a tactical marker on his HUD on the armory, and was just about to grab the Marine when something broke through the ceiling. It grabbed the Marine and impaled him on one of its arms, and tore the screaming Marines head off. The Flood form removed its arm from Robert's chest, tearing bones out with it, and turned on Tom. Tom pulled his combat knife and, holding it backhand, plunged it into the Flood's chest. He tore it out and slashed open it's stomach, spilling its guts on the floor of the Armory.

_My team's gonna love me for the smell…_ Tom thought. When the creature fell over the ground, Tom raised a foot and stomped all the way through the Flood's chest in one swift motion. He pulled his foot out, ran out of the Armory, and set out for the CRYO Bay.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, my friends! I realize it's been the better part of a year since I've done this...for that I apologize. Anyway, here is Chapter 2 of Halo: Screams in the Dark. I hope you guys like it!**

ONI Sloop **Winter Walker**

CRYO Bay 17

Spartan Recon Group Delta: S45 Jai "Boomer", S79 Remy "Psycho", S24 Jackson "Blade", S107 Tom "Boss"

Objective: Destroy/Disable Covenant Shipyards in orbit over Scion 4

I Hate the Flood…

S107 Tom, en route to CRYO Bay 17

Tom came thundering down the hall, running faster than any normal human would.

_How are these bastards keeping up with me?_ He glanced at his motion tracker, and it read 15 Flood forms running after him. It looked like there were more on the way, and they were gaining on him. He looked forward, rounded a bend, and saw a door. He kept running to it, and when he tried to open it, it went about half way and got stuck. He could fit, but it'd be tight. He heard the Flood scream at him as they came around the corner, and without hesitation, he went head-first into the hole.

He made it through, but barely. The Flood were screaming on the other side, fighting over who would slide through first. Tom didn't stick around to see who would win. He had another 100 meters to cover before he reached the CRYO Bay.

_Maybe I should've grabbed a rifle…_ he thought to himself. He rounded a bend and saw a heavy barricade against a door, the last door he had to pass through before he reached CRYO Bay 17.

"Oh, son of a bitch!" Tom said to himself. He walked up to the barricade, listening for any signature Flood noises.

_Well, taking this apart is gonna take time. Guess I'll just have to go around….FUCK!_

He saw an access shaft to the air vents, and they seemed to be going towards the CRYO bay. He had no other choice, and when the computer denied him access, "God damn it. Come on…S107 Tom, Major…oh screw this!" He grabbed the hatch and pulled it out of the wall.

"That'll teach the damn computer to mess with me! HA!" Tom smiled at his work through his visor looked into the vent.

_Damn that smells!_ Just as he was about to go in, a swarm of Flood Infection pods jumped at him. With no time to pull his knife, Tom had to use his hands.

_There's gotta be HUNDREDS of these things! _They kept coming, and with every passing second, Tom was getting impatient.

_This is never gonna stop. I gotta find a way to plug this vent…_ With his shields taking hits, he stole quick glances around at what he could use. His eyes came to rest on the vent panel he'd torn off.

_Maybe I shouldn't have ripped that out of the wall…_ Tom picked a random piece of wreckage and threw it as hard as he could down the vent. He didn't waste time to here to satisfying POP of the Infection forms dying; he grabbed the vent cover and, as violently as he had ripped it out, he crammed it back in.

"Next time it says access denied, I'll just leave it be." He said to himself quietly. Tom heard scraping from the other side of the panel.

_No time to celebrate!_ He turned and ran back down the hall.

Seconds after he had gone around the bend, the panel began to fail, and the swarm of Infection forms spread out across the floor, tentacles up, listening for something. They began to bounce and jump their way down the hall. Tom only had to glance at his motion tracker to get the picture. His contact marker read 387 targets and counting.

_Where the hell are they coming from?_ Tom turned around the corner and ran straight into an infection form. It raised its arm, and with no time to react, Tom took a powerful swipe to the head. His shield meter flared red, and his head spun with the impact as the impact alarm reverberated throughout his helmet. The enemy had made its last mistake; Tom focused on his target, blocked out the pain, pulled his knife, and plunged it into the Flood form's belly. It roared as he yanked it out and punched into the form's chest. He heard a POP like an Infection form, and the creature fell backwards without any secondary movement.

"Well! That's convenient. Note to self: weak spot is the chest." Tom said to himself. His motion tracker pulsed, showing multiple targets closing in from behind. He ran around the corner, keeping his eyes open for anything useful. He spotted a barricade he had passed earlier and decided he would smash it. He twisted his body and positioned his right arm as if he were holding a shield and sprinted through the barricade. His shields drained to half and he slowed down.

His motion tracker was clean, and he took in his surroundings. What he saw were blood soaked walls and floor of a site that had been the last stand for some 8 or 9 Marines, wearing MP Armor and carrying heavy assault equipment. In a matter of seconds, he had picked up 2 MA5B Assault Rifles, an M6G Magnum, found 5 full magazines for each weapon, and reloaded. He looked up and saw a blown out maintenance hatch, torn open by an amazing display of brute force. The motion tracker pulsed, reading some 150 hostiles, and Tom ran for the hatch, dove in, and slid around the bend. He opened up the access hatch he found.

_I think I'm gettin' the hang of this! I didn't have to rip that door open!_ Tom thought to himself. He continued to crawl through the tunnel until he was convinced that he was relatively safe and began to search for an exit to the Cryo Bay. A small door with the words _Cryo Bay 17_ in bold red letters caught his eye.

_ I think this is it._

He opened up the door and crawled to the maintenance hatch at the end of the tunnel. The tracker pulsed, reading multiple targets on the other side. It also read 3 human life signs, strong and steady. He checked his weapons and ammunition. He hadn't realized up till that moment that all of the ammo he had on him were Shredder Rounds.

_Hell yes!_ The razor-blade bullets would cut anything they hit into pieces. However, they fly very quickly and can cut through most anything before they slow down.

_I'll have to shift fire away from my squad mates. Easier done than said._ He focused his mind, blocked out all other thoughts, all other emotions, and became a machine. As he counted down from 3, time slowed down, sound ceased to exist, and when he hit zero, the hatch opened, and he came out of the hatch firing.

**I dedicate this chapter to Noblescotsman, who has recently convinced me to contine this story. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello there, ladies and gentlemen! Apologies for releasing this on Christmas day...a lot of editing went into this one. Also, my break began last Friday, so I'll be making a few updates over the next 2 weeks. But for now, I present to you Chapter 3 of Halo: Screams in the Dark! Review with any ideas; I'm happy to consider them!**

ONI Sloop **Winter Walker**

CRYO Bay 17

Spartan Recon Group Delta: S45 Jai "Boomer", S79 Remy "Psycho", S24 Jackson "Blade", S107 Tom "Boss"

Objective: Destroy/Disable Covenant Shipyards in orbit over Scion 4

I see you've got all your parts…

S107 Tom, breaching CRYO Bay 17

The muzzle flared as bullets left the rifle, impacting the first target. After the 5th shot was fired, he shifted his line of fire to his left, and put 5 rounds into the second target. The first target dropped, and Tom spun around to find himself face to face with a Flood form. He jammed the weapon into the Flood's chest as if he were armed with a bayonet and fired another 5 round burst through his target into another standing behind it. He let the recoil push the gun out of the monster, and as the second target dropped, Tom twisted to his right, fell on one knee and put 5 rounds into a target.

The third and fourth targets fell; Tom ran towards the other side of the room and fired three more 5-round bursts. 15 bullets hit 3 targets. Tom shifted right, his weapon leveled, to face the final target. 5 shots reverberated through the CRYO Bay, and the last target dropped. He kept his rifle ready, took a cursory glance at his motion tracker, and went around the room, checking every little hole for targets, even the ones made by his own bullets. In less than 30 seconds, he had fired 40 shots, dropped 9 targets, secured the room, and swapped magazines.

"Room clear!" he yelled.

He ran to the tubes which contained his squad mates; he had managed to avoid killing them. He went to Jai's control panel, entered his access code, and sent the code to his squad's tubes to begin thawing. 35 seconds passed, and the warm up sequence began, in which his squad mates would be slowly heated up and revived over the proper reanimation time of 5 minutes. The computer showed the process to be proceeding without fault, and Tom spun around, readied his rifle, and dropped to one knee, securing the room.

When 5 minutes had passed, the pods opened, and his squad tumbled out and threw up the gel inside them.

"God DAMN that stuff is horrible!" Jackson exclaimed once he had regurgitated all the gel. He was a shorter Spartan, but that only meant about a 1 inch height difference, however what he lacked in height, he made up for in strength and speed; the perfect hand-to-hand fighter in all scenarios.

"Amen to that." Jai replied. The woman was tall, even for a Spartan; an extra 3 inches were on her side, as was an inimitable skill with explosive devices and the record for the fastest 4 kilometer run.

"Boss? What's going on?" the average sized, heavy-set Remy asked.

"Spartans! On your feet; prepare for combat!" Tom called. They instantly stood at attention.

"Our situation will be explained when we are permitted by our enemy to do so. Move to the Spartan Armories. All unknowns are hostile; stealth is top priority. Let's go, Spartans!"

They moved through the halls, not making a sound, taking a completely different and more direct path than Tom had initially taken. A pack of 4 Flood infection pods and 1 half-alive Flood form were the only hostiles encountered. The Recon Team had reached Tom's tactical marker he'd placed before he left in less than 15 minutes. Upon their arrival at the Spartan Armories, Jai, Remy, and Jackson jogged to the Armorers and stepped in, the doors clanging shut in perfect unison; Tom's trained ears couldn't distinguish which door had closed first or last.

When the Spartans stepped out, they each took a cursory once-over on their armor. Boomer was wearing an Operator Helmet, UA/Multi Threat Shoulder plates, and an Assault/Sapper Chest plate, colored Blue and Gray, but the paint didn't hide all of the marks and scratches on the armor from explosions, nor did the Black visor color make her look any less worn. Blade wore a Recon Helmet, Hazop Shoulder Plates, and a Tactical/Patrol Chest Plate, colored Blue and Red, with a Black visor. The armor looked like it had never been worn before; no one could recall Blade's shields ever being completely drained. Psycho's armor consisted of a GUNGNIR Helmet, CQC Shoulder Plates, and a Collar/Grenadier Chest Plate, colored Blue and White, with so many dents and marks everywhere Tom was surprised ONI let him keep his original armor. He, too, had a blackened visor.

"Delta, sign in." Tom ordered. As soon as the order was said, his squad roster appeared on the right side of his H.U.D. He scanned the roster. The first was Delta 2, Jai, who came up on the roster as Boomer. Her vitals were displayed underneath her name; they read normal, status indicator showed green. The second was Delta 3, Jackson, who came up on the roster as Blade. His vitals were displayed underneath his name; they, too, looked normal, the status indicator showed green. The third was Delta 4, Remy, who came up on the roster as Psycho. His vitals were also displayed underneath his name; they were irregular, and the status indicator slowly pulsed red.

"Psycho, reset and resign." Tom ordered. His name came off the roster, and a second later it was back; no changes. The indicator still pulsed red; an analysis window appeared under his slot on the roster with the words: CRYO REACTION, FIELD CHECK UP REQUIRED.

"4, your indicator shows red, CRYO Reaction. You feelin' ok?" Tom asked.

"Yes, sir." Psycho responded in his low, raspy voice.

"Psycho, step up. Boomer, Blade, grab your weapons and secure the room." Tom took a field medical kit from the wall as 2 and 3 moved to the ordnance racks on the far right side of the room. Psycho sat down and removed his helmet. Tom took a knee, removed his helmet, and examined 4's eyes. They were bloodshot, the veins in his face stuck out a bit, and his right cheek was showing the freezer burn symptom of a rash.

"Freezer burn and a serious allergic reaction to CRYO. This hasn't happened before, has it?" Tom asked.

"No sir." was his monotone reply.

Tom held up a panel with a series of letters on it, going from largest on top to smallest on the bottom.

"Read the first line."

"L, A, B, P, Q, Y, I."

"Second."

"U, C, R, E, W, O, J."

"Third."

"T, X, M, K, D, V, H."

"Fourth."

"G,…S,…Z,…F, L,…S,…N."

"Fifth."

"P,…T,…M,…I can't read them, sir."

"Eye sight severely diminished. Rash on the right cheek. You're also sweating like your SOIEV Orbital Drop Pod insulation failed. If you press on like this, you'll pass out, possibly go comatose. We need to get you to the medical bay. Think you can make it?"

"Sir, I could kill everything on this ship alone and feel just fine in the fallout."

"I'll take that as a yes." Tom pulled up a needle filled with a clear fluid that he inserted into a port in Psycho's right forearm. It was a painkiller, mixed with a steroid that would clear his eyesight for a while.

"Gear up, Spartan." Tom pointed to the weapons rack and handed him one of his MA5B Assault Rifles and an ammo belt. Psycho put his helmet back on and took the rifle and ammo, holstering his rifle in the secondary position along the left side of his back. Tom put his helmet back on, put the pad back in the field trauma kit, slid a canister of Bio-Foam into the magnetic holster on his lower back, and put the kit back where he found it.

_Someone else might have room for that._ He thought to himself.

He checked the squad roster slot that contained the squad's frequency and frequency security. Both showed green.

He turned around to inspect his team. Boomer was carrying a shotgun in her hands and a sticky-grenade launcher was attached to the magnetic holster on her right leg. A grenade harness covered in Fragmentation Grenades and various explosive charges clung to her chest. Blade held a DMR in his hands and an SMG with a holographic sight was locked to his leg. He had grabbed the other field trauma kit off the far wall and had locked it to his back.

When Tom saw Psycho, he found himself staring at a 2.5-ton, living, breathing, unstoppable one man army. The Spartan carried a SAW LMG in hands, had the assault rifle on his back to the left, a rocket launcher on his right, a pistol on his left leg and an SMG on his right, along with a combat vest filled to breaking point with ammunition for everyone's weapons.

_Well, guess it's better to have too many bullets than too few…_ Tom thought.

He walked over to the almost bare weapons racks and exchanged all of his gear. His Assault Rifle was exchanged for a Battle Rifle, and the MA5B Shredders were replaced with Armor Piercing rounds. He swapped his Magnum for an SMG with a Red Dot Sight. He donned a combat harness that could carry a good mix between ammo and explosives, carrying 5 spare magazines for the SMG and 8 spares for the Battle Rifle, along with 4 Fragmentation Grenades.

"Delta, I'd suggest you grab AP or Shredder rounds for your weapons. They seem to work better than the standard gear." Tom announced.

"Beat you to it, sir." Boomer replied matter-of-factly.

"Copy." said Blade coolly.

"Copy." was Psycho's calm reply.

"Affirmative. Setting a waypoint for the Bridge…locked. Mapping…path set. We'll adapt it as necessary." Tom stated. The path his suit's computer selected took them through a series of hallways that led to an elevator that would bring them directly to the Bridge. A 15 minute walk in normal circumstances.

_This oughtta be interesting._ Tom thought.

"Delta, fall in!" Tom called.

They formed up in a diamond-like pattern, with Boss up front, Psycho behind, Boomer to the left and Blade to the right.

"Move to the marker. All unknowns are hostile. One speed." Tom called. The second Tom took one step, all of them moved down the hall at a run.

"Boomer, what shells are you carrying?" Tom asked over the squad's radio frequency.

She smiled underneath her visor and said one word: "Incendiary."

Before Tom had time to grin, his squad rounded a turn and came face to face with Flood forms of all kinds, 8 standing targets and some 40 Infection pods.

Tom leveled his rifle at the closest target and pulled the trigger.


	4. Chapter 4

ONI Sloop **Winter Walker**

CRYO Bay 17

Spartan Recon Group Delta: S45 Jai "Boomer", S79 Remy "Psycho", S24 Jackson "Blade", S107 Tom "Boss"

Objective: Destroy/Disable Covenant Shipyards in orbit over Scion 4

It's a long, long road…

Spartan Recon Squadron Delta, en route to the Bridge

The Battle Rifle threw 3 rounds at his target as a hail of bullets flew past him from all around. His right side peripheral vision caught a bright orange fiery blast that ripped through a Flood Form and lit several Infection Forms behind it on fire. The loud CRACK of a DMR came from his right, and his left side peripheral saw the round enter a Flood Form, exit out the back, impact a second target, exit, and continue into the darkness. He saw the tracer rounds of an LMG fly past his left side, 5 inches away from his shields. They flew slightly downward on a path towards a few Infection Pods, all clustered together, and suddenly they were flying at a Flood Form's torso, tearing it to pieces.

Another 3-round burst left Tom's rifle as Boomer's shotgun put another wall of fire towards the remaining Infection Pods, taking out a Flood Form's legs and setting him ablaze. The DMR cracked, and the round flew right through the last Flood Form. More tracers flew from behind Tom and destroyed the remaining Infection Forms and the deck beneath them.

The engagement lasted no more than 3 seconds.

"Clear!" Boomer yelled enthusiastically.

"Copy!" called Psycho.

"Copy!" replied Blade.

"Affirmative! Press on!" ordered Tom. The squad began moving through the halls towards the elevator at a run.

"Psycho, why tracers?" asked Blade.

"I find them beautiful." Psycho responded in his low monotone voice. "And it's all the Armory had."

Tom grinned. _Typical Remy…_

They rounded a corner and saw a barricade 25 yards ahead of them.

"Break through!" Tom yelled over the comm line.

The squad put their weapons behind them with their left hands while bringing their right arms up into a protective position. Their speed increased to a flat-out sprint, their boots thundering through the halls; the bloody, dimly lit halls. Without saying a word, without a thought crossing their minds, they formed up in a straight line, Tom and Blade on the left and Boomer and Psycho on the right. They chose the weakest points in the barricade ahead, and targeted them. Time slowed down as Tom's head twisted to the left as his right shoulder impacted the barricade. Simultaneously, he heard his squad's collective bodies slam against the barricade. It creaked and gave way to 8.5 tons of Spartan, shrapnel flying in every direction. Tom's shields drained to half, and as he twisted his head forward again, he was met with the bodies of Flood Forms.

His body naturally brought his rifle to bear, but he was too slow. A Flood Form reached out and was about to hit him when he heard a loud BOOM and saw the creature in front of him burst into flames. As it flew off to his left, he saw more Flood Forms up ahead. His finger tightened around his rifle's trigger, and 3 Armor Piercing rounds flew forward, impacting a Flood Form, lifting it off the ground and slamming it onto its back. He heard SMG fire from his left, saw the shotgun's fiery blaze light up the halls, quickly followed by the bright white lines of LMG shredder tracers.

The firing stopped, time resumed its course, and the Spartans came to a dead halt, standing in front of a destroyed barricade in the dim Condition Red ground lights, the walls covered in blood, bodies on the ground, some set ablaze due to Boomer's excellent taste in ammunition. They were standing in the bloody fallout of a fight between Marines and the Flood.

"Holy shit…" came 4's voice through the silence. Tom was surprised; that was usually his line. Remy was never surprised by anything. This was a bad omen.

"18 Marines. Not normal ones; these guys are UNSC Special Forces. MP armor, heavy weapons, a barricade…and they still didn't make it." Blade analyzed.

"These aren't the normal Flood Forms we've encountered in the past. They're bigger and stronger. And the targets we just engaged are worse; not much aside from Covenant are taller than Spartans." Boomer responded.

"These aren't Covenant." Psycho announced.

Tom glanced down at the Flood Form body in front of him and saw a normal-looking human head, but upon further study, he noticed something that disturbed him deeply.

"These are human Flood Forms, but they're different." Tom stated. "The musculature, strength, and overall body shape is that of a recently graduated Spartan. Just like us after we received our biological modifications."

"Someone's been infecting people with the Flood parasite and engineering them to be like us? Why?" Blade asked.

"God knows. But it's our problem now, and that problem has rendered our shipyard sabotage mission impossible. Our new objective is to get to the bridge, access the shipboard A.I., and put out an SOS." Tom announced.

"Delta 2 copies all." Boomer called.

"Copy." said Blade.

"4." said Psycho.

"Swap magazines and pull ammo from the dead; they won't need it anymore." Tom ordered.

He dropped his Battle Rifle magazine and slapped in a new one, then squatted in front of a dead Marine who was carrying the same rifle and ammo.

_This explains the unusual emptiness of the Spartan Armory._ Tom thought.

He pulled 9 rounds from the dead soldier and put them into his recently dropped magazine before putting the clip away in his combat vest. He looked up and realized that the man's eyes were open, a look of absolute terror frozen in them. Tom reached up and ran his fingers down the man's face, closing his eyes.

_The dead should be remembered…_

"Grab their IFF Tags and Chains and download their information; someone will want to know what happened to these men." Tom ordered. He pulled the small, yellow chip from the back of the man's helmet, inserted it into the slot in the back of his helmet, and accessed it. The man's name was Robinson, David J., rank Master Sergeant, Assault Team Epsilon Lead, Age 32. Tom was able to access 7 other soldier's IFF Tags from Sergeant Robinson's and download their information. After that process, he pulled the chip out of his helmet, placed in back in the dead Sergeant's helmet, and yanked his Chains, which contained his Dog Tags. He stood up and pulled the Chains from the other Epsilon squad members.

When he turned around, Blade and Psycho were already on their feet, and Boomer had just pulled her last Chain.

"Delta, synchronize data, and set syncs for 15 minute intervals." Tom called.

A spinning semi-circle appeared next to each Delta members' name, indicating synchronization. Less than a second later, it was gone, and a green light flashed 3 times next to each of their roster slots.

"Affirmative. Fall in." Tom ordered.

Delta formed up in their diamond formation and jogged down the hall. Tom checked his squad's location on the computer's path. They were just over halfway to the elevator. He glanced at his motion tracker; it was blank aside from the green dots that marked his squad mates.

_It's clear for now._ Tom thought.

The squad jogged around another corner and saw the elevator doors 30 yards down the hall from them. The hallway was clear; no targets in sight. The Spartans came to a halt in front of them. 3 and 4 spun around and raised their weapons, keeping the hallway secure as 2 stood in front of the elevator doors, shotgun steadied against her shoulder, ready to blast whatever might be waiting inside the elevator. Tom moved to the small panel in the wall directly on the right of the door. A keypad came up on the panel along with a window asking for a 6-digit access code. Tom's hand reached for the touch-sensitive surface of the panel, his fingers a blur, as the numbers " 2" appeared in the blank window above the keypad.

The words "ACCESS GRANTED; S107, TOM, MAJOR" appeared on the screen, followed by another keypad, with the numbers 1-6 on one half of the screen and the letters A-D on the other half. His fingers tapped the surfaces that contained the digits A-1. A window popped up with the words "BRIDGE AND COMBAT OPERATIONS". Another window blossomed open underneath the previous window. "CONFIRM: YES/NO".

Tom confirmed his destination and watched as the computer confirmed his request. The screen changed to show the deck the elevator was currently on. The letters and numbers scrolled by as the elevator ascended from deck D4 to B6. It came to a halt on deck C2, and a red window appeared that said "ELEVATOR DISABLED; OBSTRUCTION DETECTED".

_Son of a bitch. That's not good._ Tom evaluated the situation. All the stairwell doors he had seen on the way here were sealed shut, and now the elevator was obstructed. That meant someone might still be alive on the bridge.

"Delta, stack up. We're going for a little climb." Tom announced. "2, break that door."

He slid his rifle muzzle down over the magnetic holster on the right side of his back as Boomer pulled out a breaching charge. The 5x5x1/2 inch white box had a red border, indicating high explosives. When she slammed it onto the surface of the doors, it stuck. Tom pulled his SMG from the holster on his right leg and stood 3 feet from the doors as Boomer pressed a small button in the center of the device. It's 3 second detonation timer was initiated, and she jumped in front of Tom and took a knee, shotgun leveled at the doors. The charge exploded, its Titanium B interior directing the blast into the doors before the whole thing disintegrated. The reinforced doors flew straight back into the elevator shaft, denting on impact with the other side, and began a long fall downwards.

Nothing but loud clanging came from the tunnel in front of them before going completely silent.

_Maybe the obstruction kept the Flood out of this part of the shaft. But if the obstruction was caused on purpose, there may be more ahead._ Tom thought.

Tom and Boomer moved to the doors and turned on their gun-mounted lights. Boomer spun around to face the hallway, and fell backwards, reaching out with her left hand to grab the right side of the door frame, shotgun aimed towards the upper decks. Tom fell forwards, catching the left side door frame with his left hand, SMG sweeping the lower decks in his right hand.

"Clear!" Boomer yelled.

"Clear!" Tom responded.

Tom pushed himself back into the hallway, followed quickly by Boomer. He scanned the other side of the shaft with his light as Boomer took a knee behind him, shotgun aimed down the hall.

_There should be a ladder somewhere…there!_

"Delta, there's a ladder on the far side of the shaft; distance 10 feet. 2, after me; 3 and 4 follow close behind." Tom ordered. Blade and Psycho instantly backpedaled to positions on either side of the opening into the shaft. Boomer held her position 3 feet from the opening. Tom holstered his SMG, took a small step that placed his right foot on the edge of the door frame, sank into his hips, and launched himself across the abyss. He impacted the ladder, stabilized his footing, and quickly ascended the ladder, his impact noise reverberating through the shaft.

"Clear!" he yelled, signaling 2 to make her jump. A second later, a loud clang came from underneath him. He continued his silent ascent up the ladder, making room for her to clear the LZ.

"Clear!" she yelled. 3 spun from his position by the door and easily cleared the jump, holstered his DMR mid-flight, impacted the ladder, and began his ascent.

"Clear!" he called. 4 spun around and launched himself across the shaft, slamming into the ladder, bending the rungs to breaking point.

"Clear." he said calmly. Tom continued his ascent. He continued to hear the sounds of metal creaking, breaking, and impacting the obstruction far below. He stopped his ascent.

"Delta, what the hell is that noise?" Tom asked over the squad's radio freq.

"I've only broken the ones that could possibly be reached by jumping through that particular door, Boss. It may not stop the Flood, but it'll slow them down." Psycho responded.

"How much more noise do you plan to make, 4?" Tom asked. Just then he heard metal being broken away, clanging off the walls on its way down before coming to rest with a loud CLANG.

"That was the last one, Lead." Psycho looked down through his arms at the rungs below him. He'd broken 40; nothing he knew could jump 15 yards at that angle through a door frame and stick that landing, especially when there was nothing to grab on to.

"Psycho, could you keep it down for a while?" Tom inquired.

"Copy." came his response.

The ascent continued in silence. A few times they'd heard gunfire and screams for help, but the doors were on the other side of a 10 foot gap, and there were no handholds on the other side. Once, something was thrown into the elevator doors hard enough to dent them heavily, but the reinforced steel didn't give.

It made the climb harder, listening to their fellow soldiers die like that, but there was nothing that could be done. Everyone had their objectives, and each soldier would complete that objective to the best of their ability, and nothing more could be asked of them.

_I'll make sure someone knows of their sacrifice._ Tom vowed to himself.

Finally, after 11 decks worth of climbing, the doors with the label A1 stood directly across from the Spartans.

"Delta, any ideas?" Tom asked over the squad freq. He heard a magnetic holster disengage, and when he looked down through his arms he saw Boomer holding her sticky grenade launcher.

"If I put 1 grenade towards the top of the doors and one towards the bottom, right on the split line, and detonate them together, that should do it." Boomer stated. She set the detonator for 2 grenades and fired the first with a loud THUD. It stuck halfway between the middle of the doors and the top, right on the split line. A second THUD rang out, and the second grenade landed on the split line hallway between the middle and bottom of the doors.

"Fire in the hole!" she called as she squeezed the detonation trigger. The grenades went off simultaneously, and the doors blossomed open into the halls of Deck A1.

Tom took his right hand off of the ladder and turned around to face the doorway.

_I'll need the high ground._ He decided. He climbed up the ladder until the doorway had decreased in size by 1/4. He took his right hand off the ladder, sank into his right hip, and pushed himself off the ladder and towards the doorway. His left foot hit the edge of the door frame on the ground, and he shifted his weight forward as his right foot made contact with the floor. He brought his chest to his right leg, pushed with his left foot, and dove away from the door, ending in a roll that brought him to one knee, SMG raised and shouldered.

"Clear!" he yelled. He stood up and moved 5 feet down the hall and dropped to one knee. Boomer made her jump, landed, and rolled to a standing position.

"Clear!" she called. She moved to Tom's left, took up a standing position, and shouldered her shotgun. Blade flew through the door and landed in his position to Tom's left, standing, with his DMR against his shoulder and aimed down the hall.

"Clear!" he said, his voice full of exhilaration. Psycho's jump bent the rungs he had been standing on, and he landed with a loud THUMP as he stuck the landing, no rolls. He lifted his boots out of the dents they'd made in the floor and moved to his position behind Tom, SAW raised.

"Clear." he said coolly. Tom couldn't help but smile.

"Affirmative. Move to the Bridge." he ordered. He stood up and moved at a jog through the halls. He passed 2 doors the faced each other from across the hall 30 yards from the elevator shaft; staircases that led just below the floor they were walking on to the Combat Operations Room. 20 yards further down the hall stood a reinforced titanium door that led to the Bridge.

Tom jogged to the small panel that was in the wall next to the door.

"Delta, stack up! Breach and clear!" Tom called. His fingers entered his 6-digit access code. A window popped up; "ACCESS DENIED". Tom tried again. "ACCESS DENIED".

"Boomer, break this door." Tom ordered. Boomer was walking up to the door with plasma tape when the door opened up to a woman standing there with a M6-C Magnum Pistol in her hand. When she realized that she was staring at Spartans, she lowered her weapon, smiled, and said, "Well, it's about damn time! Spartans, welcome to the Bridge!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys. I realize it's been a while, and that this chapter is a bit shorter, but I think I compensated for it pretty well. I present you with Halo: Screams in the Dark; Part the Fifth. Enjoy! Review if you have any ideas; I'm always up for hearing them!**

ONI Sloop **Winter Walker**

Combat Operations Deck - Bridge

Spartan Recon Group Delta: S45 Jai "Boomer", S79 Remy "Psycho", S24 Jackson "Blade", S107 Tom "Boss"

Objective: Destroy/Disable Covenant Shipyards in orbit over Scion 4

ONI Secrets; Part 1

Spartan Recon Squad Delta, on the Bridge

Tom's eyes took in the sight of a woman in her late 40s, clad in the gray and black uniform of the UNSC. She was quite pretty, with metallic blue eyes, short blonde hair, an athletic build, and stood at around 5 feet 8 inches. His eyes came to rest on her Insignia, which sat on her lower left shoulder just above her breast. The words **CAPTAIN AMELIA CLASTON **stared back at him in dull gold letters.

"Ma'am, Spartan Reconnaissance Squadron Delta, reporting." Tom stood at attention.

"Come on in, Delta." she responded, smiling in relief. She stepped aside as Delta squad lowered their weapons and walked in. Tom looked around the large, semi-circular room. The walls curving forward on his left and right were lined with displays, showing everything from external sensor data to damage reports, each screen radiating blue or red light. Jutting from the wall, angled down at a 100 degree angle, was a flat surface that encircled the whole room. Underneath the displays were holographic keyboards and control interfaces, each one shining a dull blue that emanated from the matte gray surface. There were 4 of these interfaces on either side of the door.

About 15 feet away from the edge of the left wall stood another wall, made of glass that contained holographic displays of the ship, internal structures, cargo, and payload information and status. This wall took curved forward symmetrically with the wall it faced and covered the left half of the room.

On the other side of this glass display was a 4 inch drop to the space that contained the Captain's and 1st Officer's chairs. Directly in front of these chairs at a distance of 15 feet was a long control panel with 3 stationary chairs in front of 3 displays embedded in the table. These stations from left to right were the Helm, Weapons Controls, and Communications positions. Past this table was a screen, 40 feet across and 8 feet tall, with a view of the blank, dark void of space to the front of the ship.

Aside from the Spartans and Delta, the bridge was empty; there weren't even bodies on the floor. The lights in the ceiling were a dull white, instead of the dark red that filled the rest of the ship.

"Delta, take a break." Tom ordered. They walked to various parts of the room, enjoying their relative safety but taking up tactical positions to defend any possible entrance. Tom turned to her.

"Sitrep." Tom called.

"The elevator has been blocked and my last orders were to secure the doors; seal them shut and keep them that way." she told him.

"We're aware. Continue." Tom responded, deadpan.

"Beyond that, you'll want to talk to Phoenix." she pointed behind him to the 3-dimensional holo-pad in the center of the room.

He turned, and a male A.I. avatar blossomed up in a bright flare of blue. Phoenix appeared as a dull orange, much like the fire of the animal he had named himself after. Standing at approximately 2 feet tall, he wore the clothing of an American soldier in the Vietnam War. He face had a worn look, and the angular jaw line made him look quiet and sincere.

"Welcome, Major. My name is Phoenix; I'm this vessel's A.I." His voice was that of a baritone, with a slight Western tang to it. He stood at attention and saluted.

"Alright, Phoenix. Sitrep." Tom responded calmly.

"There are multiple systems disabled or destroyed throughout the ship, some of which have sustained heavy damage-"

"Good God. This ship is screwed." Blade announced from the Engineering panel, the first on the left from the door on the wall. He turned around and looked at Tom, not noticing or caring that he'd cut the A.I. off.

"Yeah, you could say that." Phoenix coolly stated. "S24 has the list, Major." Tom walked over to Blade's console.

"Jesus Christ." Tom mumbled under his breath. Blade had pulled up a complete list of the ship's systems, and it took Tom less than a second to notice that most of the systems showed red.

The list read:

ALL WEAPONS:

25mm Anti-Fighter Canons: Offline; Platforms offline.

150mm Anti-Ship Canons: Offline; Platforms offline.

Guided Penetration Missiles: Online; Armed and ready.

Mine Deployment Systems: Offline; Loading system disabled.

SENSORS:

External Sensors and Motion Trackers: Partially Online; Sensor nodes disabled.

Internal Sensors and Motion Trackers: Partially Online; Sensor nodes disabled.

External Cameras: Partially Online; Multiple units disabled.

Internal Cameras: Partially Online; Multiple units disabled.

SECURITY SYSTEMS:

External Sentry Guns: Partially Online; Multiple units disabled.

Internal Security Turrets: Offline; System shutdown.

COMMUNCATIONS SYSTEMS:

Long-range Communications: Offline; Communication nodes disabled.

Short-range Communications: Offline; System shutdown.

Internal Communications Network: Partially online; Dead zones confirmed.

ENGINEERING SYSTEMS:

Main Engines: Offline; Fuel lines disabled, system shutdown.

Secondary Engines: Offline; Fuel lines disabled, system shutdown.

Maneuvering Thrusters: Offline; Fuel lines disabled.

Slipspace Drive: Offline; System shutdown.

Hull Status: Damaged; Multiple minor breaches.

Hull Repair Systems: Offline; System shutdown.

LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS:

Oxygen Systems: Partially Online; Multiple decks vented.

Ventilation Systems: Online; Air flow normal.

Oxygen Recycling Systems: Partially Online; Critical systems disabled.

SHIP STATUS: REQUIRES FULL OVERHAUL AT NEAREST UNSC SHIPYARD.

The list continued.

"Son of a bitch…" Tom couldn't believe that all of this had managed to occur while Delta was asleep.

Boomer, standing at the Life Support wall console on the far right of the room, turned towards the A.I.

"How long did all of this take?" She asked.

"Approximately 25 hours." Phoenix replied calmly.

"In 25 hours of Hell, no one thought to wake up the Spartans?" Psycho asked from his position at the Helm Control console.

"None of the teams we sent made it that far. One got close, but they encountered heavy resistance." Phoenix responded.

"Someone made it. A female Cryo Officer managed to thaw me before she was killed." Tom announced, still looking at the systems list.

_Something's not right…that Cryo Officer wasn't in a combat rig, didn't seem to be armed, the hallways were blocked…_ Tom thought.

"The important thing is that you're all awake now and we can retake the ship." The Captain stated.

"Wait a minute." Tom turned from the Engineering console and began to walk towards the holo-pad. "Phoenix, get me a map of the ship."

The A.I. vanished and was quickly replaced by a large 3-Dimensional map of the ship, glowing the same iridescent blue as the consoles.

"Mark the areas that have no atmosphere in orange." Tom ordered.

Instantly, the specified parts of the ship changed color.

_They form a cohesive network throughout the ship…_

"Mark all hull breaches in green."

Splotches of translucent green lights appeared in 4 spots on the 3-D display.

"Mark all disabled external cameras and sentry units in red."

Phoenix instantly obliged.

"Mark all disabled internal sensors and sensor ranges in white."

The areas that had been marked in orange turned white, along with a few other spots in the ship not too distant from the network.

"Hooooleeeee shit." Boomer said.

_A vented network of hallways and rooms, all cut off from the ship's internal sensors and cameras, with 4 hull breaches, and disabled security sentries in the same areas. Something isn't right._ Tom thought.

"So…someone's cut off parts of the ship from us. Great." Blade said, sarcasm dripping off his every word.

"Seems that way." Boomer replied.

"Captain, how did all of this happen unbeknownst to you until this was the result?" Tom asked.

"Our attempts to contain it failed, and when numbers began to dwindle, we resulted to more…drastic measures." She replied.

"Like venting whole decks?" Psycho asked.

"Shut it down, 4. Captain, this is bad. We may not be able to reclaim the ship. Too much damage has been dealt." Tom stated.

"We cannot and will not abandon this ship." She replied, a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Ma'am, even if we were to reclaim the ship, we could never put it back together enough to get us anywhere safe. The list Boss saw was only the critical systems list; all of the programs, subroutines, drones, and computer based operations that run those critical systems and other main systems have been disabled or destroyed. In fact, in about 2 hours, the ship won't have enough to power to run the gravity systems, and in 9 hours, the ship's oxygen production systems will fail, leaving us about 30 minutes worth of air at most." Blade called from the Engineering station.

"Regardless, there is information onboard this ship that I simply cannot allow to be left behind."

"Ma'am, there's nothing we can do to keep this ship in one piece long enough to get anywhere or have anyone come to us." Tom stated.

"Major, we will NOT leave this ship. Is that understood?" Amelia looked up into Tom's black visor, and while her face showed no fear, her eyes were wild with it.

"Yes, ma'am." Tom responded in a low voice.

_Her eyes…they show fear…almost too much fear…_

"Good. Spartan, I want you and your team to go to Engineering. Get our comms systems back online." She ordered.

"Yes ma'am." came Tom's reply. "Delta, fall in. Diamond formation. Objectives: Secure Engineering, re-enable communications systems." Tom called.

They formed up at the door, and Captain Claston watched from the step as they thundered down the hall back toward the elevator shaft as the doors closed and sealed themselves shut.

The map disappeared, and Phoenix took its place. She turned to face the dull orange soldier.

"How much do you think they know?" Amelia asked him.

"They're Spartans, and with a knack for advanced reconnaissance. I'm sure they've figured out parts of it." He responded.

"The information on the experiments is classified, as is the field test data. If they find out about it, we'll have to kill them." She stated, her face now drained of any emotion.

"How do you suppose we do that?" Phoenix inquired.

"Quickly. If we fail, they'll come for us, and all of that data will be lost. For now, we'll wait. I'm interested to see how the new Flood react to a squad of Spartans." She said, smiling at the thought.

_This should be interesting…all of the data that has yet to be gathered…_she thought to herself.

Her left arm flickered, and when she moved it closer to examine it, it lagged behind.

"The ship is losing power. I should go dark for now…" the Captain said calmly.

"Understood. I'll wake you up when something interesting happens. For now, what about the Spartans?"

"Be their guide, but do whatever you have to do to keep that information safe." She responded.

"Alright. Sleep well." Phoenix called. Captain Amelia Claston glowed an iridescent blue before disappearing into thin air.

Phoenix sighed.

_Why did I get stuck with this job?_ He asked himself. He opened up a channel to Tom.

"Delta lead, do you copy?"

"Phoenix, this is Delta Lead. I have you." came Tom's response.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, my friends. It's been a while, yes, but between projects and being unable to decide how to end this chapter, it took me some time. However, here is Chapter 6 of Screams in the Dark! Enjoy!**

ONI Sloop **Winter Walker**

Combat Operations Deck - Bridge

Spartan Recon Group Delta: S45 Jai "Boomer", S79 Remy "Psycho", S24 Jackson "Blade", S107 Tom "Boss"

Objective: Destroy/Disable Covenant Shipyards in orbit over Scion 4

ONI Secrets; Part 2

Spartan Recon Squad Delta, en route to Engineering

"Delta lead, do you copy?" Phoenix's voice came through his headset.

"Phoenix, this is Delta Lead. I have you." came Tom's response.

"I've connected you to the ship's onboard computers. Whatever intel your HUD gives you is based on information gathered through functional cameras and sensors."

A blue triangle came up on his HUD. He looked up to the left of the shield meter in the top center of the screen and blinked his left eye, activating the Pathfinder. A blue line appeared on the display showing the route he was to take. He switched to the squad frequency.

"Delta, confirm waypoint and path." Tom ordered.

He looked to the right of the shield meter and blinked his left eye, displaying the squad roster on the far right center of the screen. A blue semi-circle spun next to each name for a second before flashing green 3 times. The roster slid off the right part of his screen, leaving just the numbers of his squad members, 2-4. He switched back to the ship's communication network.

"Phoenix, waypoint received, Pathfinder online. En route to Engineering." Tom stated.

"Affirmative, Delta. I'll be monitoring your progress as best I can."

Tom looked down through his arms at the ladder, the blue line beginning under his feet and continuing into the darkness before veering off through a door some 6 decks down to deck B-1. He looked at the blue triangle which marked their final destination. A window appeared next to it that read:

WAYPOINT ALPHA

LOCATION: DECK B-1, ENGINEERING SECTION 1 - COMMUNICATIONS

DISTANCE: 3.2 KILOMETERS

_Well, that's helpful. _he thought. _But it'll probably fail on us. Prototypes always do…_ He switched back to his squad's private comm frequency.

"Delta, continue decent. Keep your ears open. We can't have the Flood jumping us in here. Squad or ship-based networks only; avoiding making noise if possible." Tom ordered. Three flashes of bright green light came to his eyes, coming from a space directly next to each of his squad members' slots on what was still visible of the roster. His squad was confirming his order, and he continued his movement down the rungs.

While his squad's frequency was private, Phoenix could break in at any moment with new intel. Luckily for Tom, he would know about it 3 seconds before it was cleared. If push came to shove, he could kill his link to all communication networks and speak directly to his squad. A helpful feature, especially when traces were being run or when signal security was breached. And if all else failed, hand gestures got the point across.

He looked down through his arms at the blue line displayed on his HUD. Only 3 more decks to go. So far so good.

When they reached the deck, Tom looked behind him at the door, the blue line disappearing into it.

"Boomer. You're up." Tom called as he cleared a spot for her. She came down the ladder directly after him, let go with one hand, leaned out into the void, and looked at the door behind her.

_It's not reinforced like the bridge doors were. 1 charge should do it…_ she thought. She unlocked the grenade launcher from her right leg, checked to ensure it was armed and ready to fire, set the detonator for 1, leveled it at the door, and squeezed the trigger. A dull thud rang out, the weapon bucked in her hand, and the grenade flew across the darkness and landed on the door, right in the center.

"Breaching!" she yelled over the radio. She pulled the trigger again, and the grenade exploded. The doors blossomed open into the bloody halls that led to Engineering. Before the smoke cleared, Boomer had already leapt through the door, hitting the floor and rolling to a stop 5 meters from the door, landing on one knee, grenade launcher holstered, shotgun up, aiming down the hall.

"Clear!" she called. As Tom scrambled back up the ladder, Blade was making his graceful jump from the ladder into the hall, rolling through the door and coming up standing directly behind Boomer, DMR hovering over her head.

"Clear!" he called. Tom had gotten into position under Psycho and, upon hearing the word, made his jump. He hit the floor, rolled, and came to one knee next to Boomer, his eyes gazing down the holographic sight on his SMG, clearing the hall.

It was at this point, a portion of his brain realized that their lights had come on, and that the infrared night vision had been deactivated.

_Must've turned itself on when we left the armory…and I didn't notice…was that the software update ONI told us about?_ Tom thought to himself.

"Clear!" he yelled, signaling Remy to make his jump. He heard the rungs squeak and break, but the sound was off, as if Psycho had jumped wrong. In the blink of an eye, Tom was standing and looking behind him, just in time to see Remy impact the ground and stumble into the bulkhead to the right of the door, denting and breaking an electrical access panel, before he fell to one knee.

"C…clear." Remy stuttered as he stood up. He shook the fall off and began to walk towards Tom, a slight limp in his right leg. He shouldered the SAW and the gun-mounted light came on as 2 and 3 turned around to see what had happened.

"Psycho, you alright?" Tom asked. _This can't be good._

"Yes, sir." came his monotone response. He sounded fine, but he sure as hell didn't look like it.

"How are you? Functional?" Tom asked.

"I'm good to go," Remy stated calmly. He slipped on a piece of wreckage from the wall and came down on his left knee. "For the most part."

Tom switched to the ship's network.

"Phoenix, this is Delta lead. Delta 4 reacted to CRYO; he needs medical attention. Find us the fastest route to Advanced Medical." Tom ordered.

"Understood. Waypoint online." Phoenix's baritone voice echoed through Tom's helmet. A green triangle appeared on his HUD before moving off of the display down and to the right. When his eyes focused on it, a window appeared.

WAYPOINT BRAVO

LOCATION: DECK B3, ADVANCED MEDICAL AND TRAUMA CENTER

DISTANCE: 1.5 KILOMETERS

He sent the Waypoint to the rest of his squad and set the Pathfinder for Waypoint Bravo. A spinning semi-circle appeared near his squad's roster numbers for a split second before a green light flashed once next to each one.

"Affirmative. Thank you, Phoenix." Tom said. He switched back to the squad's frequency.

"Sir, this isn't necessary-"

"4, save it. Delta, set your Pathfinders for Waypoint B. Advanced Medical is now our objective." Tom stated.

"Yes, sir." came their response.

"Form up; arrow formation. Keep 4 in the center."

They took up their positions, Tom on point, Boomer on the left flank, Blade on the right flank, with Psycho sitting square in the middle.

"Psycho, how functional are you?" Tom asked as they began to jog.

"Boss, I can make it." his voice was as calm as ever.

_He always says that…_

His motion tracker pulsed. 10 targets ahead; signals showed yellow.

"Delta, tracker shows contacts. 10 friendlies; distance: 15 meters, around the bend." he called over the radio. 3 green lights flashed three times. They rounded the bend and came face to face with 7 MP Marines, standing with their weapons leveled at the bend. They stood behind a barricade; not a haphazard blockade made of chairs and the like. This barricade was physically attached to the walls and floor; 3 sections came out of covered slots to join in the center and lock into place. Made of what looked to be reinforced ballistic steel, it stood 4 feet tall, 8 inches thick, spanning all 12 feet of the hallway; a standard Class 2 Deployable Defense Barricade. On both sides of the barricade, work lights with portable power sources were scattered around, but only a few of the lamps were on; the others weren't even connected to a power source, and a panel on the wall looked to have been carefully removed.

"Hold fire! Friendlies!" a Marine called. He hopped over the barricade as the rest of the squad lowered their rifles.

"Marines; sitrep." Tom called. His HUD automatically synced with their helmet computers; he had their information and they had his. A small window slid out from the bottom center of his HUD, alerting him to the creation of a new frequency that included his squad and the Marines.

"We heard a blast from behind us and were gearing up to check it out. After the last wave, we were afraid they'd got the drop on us." the man said. His name was Sergeant Bill Ridley, callsign "Hammer", Dragon Squad lead.

The armor he wore was a cross between the standard issue Marine armor and that of the ODSTs. The Marine armor sections were there, however they were thicker, with the chest plate consisting of the bulky Level 5 Body Armor worn by the ODSTs. His helmet covered his whole head, the dull silver visor absorbing the light from Delta's LEDs. The armor itself was a matte gray, and covered his entire body, sacrificing mobility for durability. Under normal circumstances, he was indestructible, but from the looks of it, he and his squad had taken their fair share of recent beatings.

The only part of his rig that didn't fit was the weapon in his hands: an MA5S Assault Carbine. The compact, cut-down version of the MA5B was tiny in comparison to the bulky Heavy MP Armored Marine holding it. It was designed more like the older Earth assault rifles; the magazine was in front of the trigger guard, with the action directly above it. The stock was collapsible to adjust for the situations it might work its way into, be it CQC or a ranged firefight. Where the stock ended, the frame jutted up at a 45 degree angle in the direction of the muzzle. The number 30 glowed a dull sky blue on the flat surface of the angle. This surface curved forward into a rail that had a holographic sight attached to it, customized to look like the EO Tech rifle sights from the 21st century. The rail became a flat surface again 4 inches behind the muzzle and curved down into the weapon. The forward grip surface on the bottom of the rifle, just in front of the magazine, curved its textured surface up to meet the rail, leaving no holes for anything to jam into. At the end of the surface, the barrel stuck out about 10mm where the grip and the rail came together, and attached to the end was a Recoil Compensator. Overall, the weapon was maybe 45 cm long with the stock collapsed.

"Well, trooper, as you can tell, we're not the Flood." Tom stated.

"Apologies, sir." Hammer replied.

He didn't need to apologize; their armor wasn't equipped with motion tracking technology. The UNSC traded computers for armor; their HUDs only displayed a magazine count and medical readouts of themselves and their squad. Targets were identified and engaged by line-of-sight, and with what it looked like they'd been through, Tom was not at all surprised at their caution.

"Sitrep." he called.

"We were deployed to this location by the Captain under orders to hold them from the elevator at all costs. We came out here with 10; 2 are dead, 1 is out of the fight, and 2 more are wounded and we can't fall back because there's not a god damn place on this boat to fall back to."

"How long have you been here?"

"15 hours."

Tom paused for a moment and chose his next words wisely.

"Considering the level of threat we're dealing with, you've done well trooper."

He couldn't see it, but Tom knew the man was smiling. It wasn't every day a superhuman death machine told you you'd been good. Dragon Squad had just received their morale boost, and they took it without question.

"My squad was en route to Engineering, but we need to take a detour through Advanced Medical."

"We'll follow."

"Negative, Marine. You're squad was stationed here, and here is where you'll stay."

"When we first got here, the power was still up and the internal defense systems were still online. There are 4 sentry guns in the walls, each with enough ammo to continuously fire for 8 hours. We were trying to get those back online so we could get our wounded to Advanced Medical."

_Well, that explains the panel and the batteries…_ Tom thought.

"How long do you need?" Boomer asked.

"5, maybe 6 minutes." a Marine stated. Tom looked towards the direction of voice and saw a Marine slumped against the wall next to the exposed circuits, the chest plate in his armor heavily dented. A marker appeared above the man's head, and when Tom looked at it, a small window appeared above it with the words:

CORPORAL DUDLEY NIGHTLY; DRAGON 6

CALLSIGN: TOMMY

"Since I'm a little on the broken side, I could use some help. What say you Spartan?"

Tom paused for a moment, considering possible futures determined by his actions.

"We'll hold the enemy here until you can get those guns back online. Boomer, you're good with wires, make it happen. The rest of you, form up on the barricade." Tom ordered.

He moved to the barricade and hopped over it, locking his SMG to the magnetic surface on his right leg. In front of the barricade sat 6 portable work lights.

_If I center 3 of them at 30 degrees on the walls and ceiling, that'll light up the hall a bit better. The last 3 should be pointed straight down the hall…if nothing else, that'll blind the hell out of whatever looks this way…_

He began to set up the lights.

**S45, Delta 2, Jai**

**Callsign: Boomer**

**Location: Deck B-1, Hallway 1**

Boomer watched as Psycho limped to the barricade and stood in the center of it, the muzzle of his SAW angled down to his left side. Tom had hopped over the barricade and had already connected one of the lights to a battery, switched it on, and was angling it towards the left wall. She knew exactly what he was thinking. She saw Blade walk up to the barricade, hop over it, and disappear into a door on the left side, 7 meters from the barricade. He popped back out, rifle aimed down the hall before disappearing back into the room. She heard a magazine eject and an action cycle.

_Doesn't he know there's an ammo counter?_

She grabbed her shotgun with her right hand, the middle of her fingers enclosing the area in front of the trigger guard, covering the action. The weapon was a UNSC M77 Tactical Assault Shotgun, her favorite for as long as she could remember. Based on the 21st century 1216 Combat Shotgun, and chambered similarly in 12 gauge shells, it looked almost exactly like the M45, except the entire foregrip area, tube system, and shell port had been scrapped. The magazine now served as the foregrip, containing 4 tubes placed around a central support, each tube holding 4 shells. When a tube ran out, she pushed a release under the muzzle which allowed her to rotate the next tube into place. When she rotated it far enough, it locked into place, and the action opened up and pulled a new round into position. To reload, she removed the magazine/foregrip wholesale and put in a new one, sliding the magazine into a rounded slot under the muzzle and slamming it into the action.

She looked at the ammo counter, which sat where the shell port would normally be. A dull blue 16 glowed at her. She locked the weapon to the magnetic holster on the right side of her back, muzzle down, and walked over to the exposed circuitry in the wall. The injured MP sat leaned against the wall next to it.

"Alright, Tommy. Let's make this quick and easy." she stated calmly.

"Yes, ma'am." came his response. His hands reached up to his helmet, fingers extended towards a release. When she heard the seal eject from the helmet, she looked over at him. A charming man stared at her. The man looked to be about 40; he couldn't be younger than 35. With short black hair, dull green eyes, and a ragged smile, he stared into her visor.

"These damn helmets get stuffy after sitting in 'em for 4 hours with a few broken ribs, don't they?" he laughed quietly for a moment before his face settled into that dead, experienced look of a professional soldier.

"Now, to get these guns online…" he began.

**S24, Delta 3, Jackson**

**Callsign: Blade**

**Location: Deck B-1, Hallway 1**

He hopped over the barricade, DMR in his hand, his eyes focused on a door a few meters down range. 2 quick steps later, he was in cover inside the doorway. He popped out quickly, aiming down the hall, eyes down the sight, just in time to get some light from Tom's lamp. He ducked back into the darkness.

_Oh, how I love the dark…_he thought to himself, as he cycled the action of his rifle and caught the round in mid-flight with his right hand. Simultaneously, he ejected the magazine, caught it with the same hand, and looked at the small holes drilled in the back of the magazine used to determine whether it was full or not.

_Only one missing, as it should be…_ he replaced the empty slot with the round in his hand before sliding the magazine in and cycling the bolt. He glanced at the counter underneath the scope; it read 15.

_I've never trusted those things. Technology's great up to a point. Nothing like eye's-on intel…_he thought.

He inspected his weapon in his hands, a standard issue Designated Marksman Rifle. Normally, he'd pick up a 99C-S2 Anti-Materiel Sniper Rifle System, but due to the implications of shooting things inside a space ship, he'd decided to go with a weapon that wouldn't kill buildings and everything inside them. Though with High-Velocity Armor Piercing FMJ ammo, he wasn't far from that level of firepower. Chambered in .308, the only thing that stopped the rifle from being a sniper system was the way the rifle was designed; the platform was that of a combat rifle, set up for a mid-long range firefight, not for extreme range shooting. However, if need be, the .308 round had a hell of a range, and in the right hands, targets at 920 meters could be engaged and neutralized.

_I love my rifles._ he thought with a smile. He walked back out into the hall.

**S79, Delta 4, Remy**

**Callsign: Psycho**

**Location: Deck B-1, Hallway 1**

Remy walked up to the barricade, his SAW angled down at the floor on his left, finger resting on the bottom edge of the trigger guard, and stared down the hall.

_Whatever comes this way will regret it._ he thought to himself.

He continued to stare down the hall, his lower peripheral seeing Boss rig a battery to a torch, his right peripheral seeing Blade jump the barricade and enter a doorwar as the torch came on, illuminating the left wall and reflecting down the hall.

_That's why he's squad lead._ Remy smiled at the thought.

Boss had always been a leader, and he had always followed him, ever since day 1 on Reach. Now that he thought about it, Boomer and Blade had always been there too. But those 2 had known each other since they were born, so wherever one went, the other followed. They were each a piece of a whole person, and they blended like it, each one supporting the other while in turn being supported, coming together like pieces of a puzzle; an inseparable bond…

A spike of pain shot up his leg and into the right side of his lower back, making him twitch. The rash on the side of his face began to burn, as if it had been set ablaze. His vision began to blur, and he thought he was going to black out. But just as quickly as it came, it left, and he was back to normal.

_That can't be good…_

He turned around, picked up his SAW by the handle above the action, and sat down, slowly leaning against the barricade. When he was all the way down, he crossed his legs and settled in. He heard a magazine eject and an action cycle.

_Blade never did trust tech, did he? _

He set his LMG across his lap and examined it. The weapon was large, heavy, and bulky. Considering it held 100 shots, it wasn't surprising the thing weighed some 8 pounds, which is quite heavy for a weapon that wasn't a sniper rifle. At 3 feet long, with a fire rate of 1,000 rounds per minute the M227 SAW was a terrifying Deployable Light Machine-Gun. Chambered in .227 caliber ammunition, it had a very high accuracy rating, making it very usable in medium-range firefights. Because the round was naturally incredibly fast, it had a heavy hit on armored, unarmored, and shielded targets, and it came in every imaginable ammunition type. His was loaded with AP FMJ Tracer, which made it slightly less accurate due the weight added to the slug, however it would punch through practically anything it hit within reason, and it made a hell of lightshow.

He heard Blade's lithe footsteps coming from the doorway down the hall, just as Boomer was reaching for a control access port in the wall, and Tom's second torch came online.

**S107, Delta 1, Tom**

**Callsign: Boss**

**Location: Deck B-1, Hallway 1**

His finger pushed the switch on the second torch into the ON position as Blade came sauntering out of a door to his left and came to a halt just behind him.

"What do you think, Blade?" he asked.

"Defensible, definitely. But that was the point, else there wouldn't be a barricade here." came the thoughtful response.

"No, 3. Can you use your scope with these lights on?"

Tom heard him bring the rifle to bear.

"There's a little glare, but nothing the scope can't compensate for."

"Good. Find a nest, but don't get cozy; we're leavin' real soon."

He reached for the third light and switched it on as Blade turned around and began his slow walk back to his door. A faint noise drifted to him from down the hall; sounded like something was moving; something big. The thump came to his ears again, and Blade disappeared into the door and, just as quickly, his rifle popped back out, his eyes down the sight, covering Tom.

"Delta and Dragon, possible contact down the hall. Anyone else hear it?" Tom asked over the comm system. He angled the third light.

"Yeah, I heard it. Marines, gear up. We got company." Hammer's voice came over the radio.

Tom scrambled to set up the remaining 3 lights. He connected their batteries, switched them on, lined them up so the rays overlapped slightly, and stood up. He quickly brought his SMG to bear as he turned and jumped the barricade. As he turned around to take cover behind the steel wall, he saw Blade make an un-assisted hop over the wall, spin around, and set his rifle down on the wall, eyes down the sight. Psycho was up, and had his LMG rested on the barricade as well, ready to fire. Tom stuck his weapon over the wall and let his eyes focus through his dot sight.

_At least we'll see what's coming…_

"Boomer, sitrep." he called. The thump again.

"Not even close. Buy me some time."

"How much?" The thump again, louder.

"The panel is out, needs a battery. 4, maybe 5 minutes!" Tommy called.

"You have 2! Make it happen!" Tom called back.

Actions cycled, rifles rested on the barricade, their collective breaths grew as loud as gunfire. The thumping got louder, faster, louder, faster, louder, faster!

And then it stopped. It was as if time came to a grinding halt, as seconds became minutes, which quickly became hours. Tom could feel the Marines glancing at each other, at the Spartans.

The control panel violently rejected the battery, and the noise echoed down the hall, loud as the boom of a 120mm. The strings inside each one of them wound tighter, and each one of them knew that the challenge ahead was nothing to be trifled with. And now, it knew they were there.

A roar came from the hall, bouncing off of the walls, ringing through their ears, shaking the very core of their minds. Their weapons vibrated with the force of the sound, and the thing came charging down the hall, the thudding footsteps sounding twice as heavy as that of a Covenant Hunter pair. 30 meters down the hall, its head came around the corner, followed by its front arms.

Their weapons fired at exactly the same time, as if they were drones connected together via remote. Tom's vision tunneled and took in the beautiful sight of the bullets flying down the hall, burning brightly, cutting brilliant lines into the darkness as they sped their way towards their target.


	7. Chapter 7

**UNSC Spirit of Fire here with a new update! Sorry this one took so long. I have been very busy. However, it is finally done, satisfactory, and lines up perfectly to knock down the next few chapters! Enjoy!**

ONI Sloop **Winter Walker**

Combat Operations Deck - Bridge

Spartan Recon Group Delta: S45 Jai "Boomer", S79 Remy "Psycho", S24 Jackson "Blade", S107 Tom "Boss"

Objective: Destroy/Disable Covenant Shipyards in orbit over Scion 4

ONI Secrets; Part 3

Spartan Recon Squad Delta; en route to Advanced Medical

The streaks of light impacted the target's head and emerging shoulders, bending and breaking as they hit. But that's all they did: impact. The rounds mushroomed open or became contorted before falling to the ground or flying off towards the walls and ceiling, rebounding off of the course surface of the target. It roared, the sound so loud and so large it rattled the walls and made Tom's head spin.

They kept firing as the target's side as its hind legs came into view. But it made no difference; the rounds still ricocheted off in different directions. Finally, it began to turn towards them to face the rounds head on. It stared into the work lights with small, black eyes, surrounded on all sides by a thick, bone-like armor, stained orange from some unknown pigment in its skin. Its chest looked as if it were covered in bumps, its front arms muscular and strong. Tom's vision came back to normal, time resumed its course, and the bullets kept flying. Tracers, AP, high-velocity, anti-armor, hollow points, shredders, but the rounds scratched the creature, drawing lines likes paper cuts in the armor, but nothing more.

It came barreling down the hall, gaining speed as it went, drawing closer to the barricade.

"Fall back! Run!" Hammer's voice rang through the radio as the Marines began to break formation, back pedaling to the elevator, their rounds going wide. Tom saw a tracer fly straight past his head. The creature was 20 meters from the barricade.

"Spartans! Retreat!" Tom commanded. As he stood up, he saw Blade's shoulders relax, and heard the exhale through the helmet comms. He fired, the round flew through the air, a beautiful copper color, and hit the creature in the face, 3 cm right of the left black dot. Too much lead. It roared, but continued its charge. 15 meters. He fired again, the round hitting 2 cm to the left of the eye. Not enough lead. 10 meters. Time slowed, and Tom saw the round exit Blade's rifle, spinning perfectly straight, no imperfections. He saw the boat-tail design of the round, its pointed FMJ tip, the black paint marking it as an AP Penetrator round. It ran down the hall, smoothly, perfectly, only to disappear into an explosion of black-red blood.

It painted the halls and floor with the stuff, screaming a horrid noise as the creature's head bucked back with force enough to lift its front from the ground. Its back legs gave out, and it tumbled forward, bumping and skidding the 8 meters into the barricade, impacting just as the Spartans jumped away. The barricade's section and separation lines were exposed, but miraculously, the thing didn't give. The Marines halted their retreat and took in the sight before them. They cheered briefly before checking themselves and marching quietly back to their posts.

"Blade, good shot!" Tom commended.

"It shouldn't have taken me 3." came his slightly disappointed response.

"3, you got your sniper recognition by shooting a stationary penny at 1000 meters with a .308, not by shooting a moving dime at 10."

Blade smiled under his visor and checked his ammo counter. It read 12.

_I counted 3, you counted 3. Glad to see we're on the same page._ Blade thought.

Just then, a computerized male voice sounded from the panel in the wall.

"Sentry guns, online." 4 wall panels opened up, leaving open holes in the bulkheads 2 meters tall and 1.5 meters long. 4 sentry guns slid out of these ports.

These 1 meter long sentry turrets were quite impressive. With a fire rate of 2,000 rounds per minute, and firing belt-fed 15mm caseless AP Explosive rounds, they could tear through just about everything. Using optical target confirmation in combination with an advanced target acquisition system, the guns could determine friend from foe, so friendly fire was a myth with these things.

The guns were triple-barreled, with each barrel firing 11 rounds per second. Each barrel had its own firing chamber, and at all times, one of those barrels was in position in front of the firing pin, with the round ready to fire. When its firing sequence began, the firing pin set off the first round, sending it flying down the barrel, the gas from the explosion following behind it. 80% of this gas was redirected back into the action of the weapon, turning the next barrel into place as it was loaded which, in turn, reset the firing pin. With the next barrel was in position, and the firing sequence still engaged, the firing pin was released, setting the next round off, restarting the cycle. When the sequence was stopped, 1 last round would always be fired to set the system for the next sequence.

Each round was a "caseless" round, which was technically correct if you weren't looking for ejected cartridges. The case was a thin polymer shell wrapped around a charge of compacted explosive. When fired, the shell helped direct the blast down the barrel before disintegrating into nothingness. The only things that left the gun were the slug and what little gas wasn't redirected. It was clean, reliable, relatively quiet, and jam-free.

Now, Delta and Dragon squads had 4 of them.

"Good work, 2. How functional are they?" Tom asked.

"Meter shows green. They're online and ready for targets." came her response.

The Marine next to her looked at her in surprise.

"How'd you…DO that?" he asked in shock.

"Do what? I just plugged it in." she stated calmly.

"Yeah, but…never mind." he said submissively.

_I'm positive the battery was rejected. She must've forced the connection. Benefits of being a Spartan I guess…_ Tommy thought to himself.

"Delta Lead, Dragon Squad is opcon to you. Lead the way, sir." Hammer's voice came through Tom's radio.

"Understood Dragon. All friendly callsigns, form up. Delta, on point, man-down formation. Dragon, stagger line behind us, wounded and medics in the back, armed and able up front. The dead stay here."

As they moved over the barricade and around the mass of armored flesh, Tom blinked his eyes twice quickly at the radio symbol underneath his weapons information tab in the top right of his screen. A window appeared with 3 channels. The first was his squad's private channel, the second the assault group's, and the third was a link to Phoenix. He blinked his eyes at the third option, and the channel opened.

"Phoenix what the hell was that thing and why didn't you tell us it was on this deck?" Tom asked.

"Delta lead, I have no idea what that was. If I'd known it was there, I would've told you. Someone took over the security…communication…sensors off…..cameras…..no power….that whole deck is…" The line went dead. Not even static. Just gone.

"Hells bells." Tom said as he switched back to the assault group's channel.

"Friendly callsigns, we're on our own. I've lost contact with Phoenix, and we may not be alone. Delta, keep an eye on your trackers. Stay sharp."

They moved down the hall, Dragon following Delta, Delta following Tom. His eyes were fixed on the green line that would take them to Advanced Medical, leading them through the broken halls, around barricades. Blood on the floor, on the walls. Spent shells. A Battle Rifle, half empty.

But there were no bodies, no screams, no gunfire. Just the sound of the assault group thudding down the hall.

_It's quiet. Uncomfortably so…_ Tom thought.

They reached the door to the stairs. Tom threw a fist up. 4 Marines spun around and took up position, dispersing evenly across the 12 foot wide space of the hallway, leaving room for the wounded to get through. The 2 injured came through first, having to struggle through on their own feet, followed by the medic, who had one arm around the critically injured trooper, the other clutched his SMG. The 2 injured Marines took positions in the firing line, and they adapted their spacing to compensate.

Tom studied the door. It was a standard reinforced access door, with a basic control switch on the right. The display was red, indicating that the door was sealed or jammed.

"Boomer, rip that door." Tom called.

"Hold up. Tommy's painkillers have worn off." the Dragon Squad medic called out. He leaned the trooper against a bulkhead on the right side of the hallway.

"Take your time, 2. Medic, make it quick." Tom called.

"Yes, sir!" came a quick response. The medic pulled his kit from his back and set it on the floor. He opened it and grabbed the hypo and a morphine canister.

The hypo was a Class 3 Adaptive Armor Needle. It was operated like a side arm; the operator held the device by a pistol grip and initiated the injection sequence with a trigger. The device itself was a rectangle with curved sides, 15 centimeters long, with a port in the back for the chemical canisters, a display on the side of the device above the trigger, and a control surface above the grip. The display showed what chemical was loaded, how much was left, what the current dosage level and concentration was, how long the needle was, and could switch sides depending on the operator's wishes. The control surface controlled the dosage level and concentration and determined the needle's length. The needle sat on the far end of the rectangle, inside a housing that could extend the needle's length from .5 to 7 centimeters long. The chemical canisters contained 40ccs of their given chemical compressed inside a high-density, very strong transparent cylindrical canister, 6 centimeters long.

The medkit itself contained nothing more than the hypo and 30 different chemicals: 10 painkillers, 7 anti-inflammatories, 7 local anesthetics, and 6 steroids. All packaged in a light polymer case 25 centimeters wide, 20 centimeters tall, and 5 centimeters deep, and weighing less than 2 kilograms.

The medic slid the canister into the back of the hypo until the display lit up. He set the needle length for 4 centimeters and set the dosage for 2.5 ccs and grabbed Tommy's left arm. He turned it over to access the injection port at his inner elbow and jammed it in all the way before pulling the trigger.

He turned around and saw Boomer walking away from the door with a detonator in her hand while he quickly took the canister out of the hypo, replaced it all back in the case, and reattached it to his back.

"You ready, Tommy?" he asked the Marine. He nodded yes, and the medic stood him up. The medic tried to support Tommy, who brushed him aside.

"I'll be fine, Doc."

He grabbed his MA5B.

"Get clear!" came Jai's call. The Concentrated Breaching Charge on the door exploded, blowing the door out of its position in the wall and sending it tumbling into the dimly lit staircase. Delta filed in, Tom and Jai moving to cover the stairs leading down, and Remy and Jackson moving to cover the stairs going up. The medic and Tommy moved into the stairwell as the rest of Dragon began to shuffle backwards towards the door.

"Downstairs clear." Tom called.

"Upstairs clear." Remy stated.

"Let's move. 2, take point. Dragon, on me. 3 and 4, cover our six. Quick and quiet."

Jai began to move down the stairs as Dragon began to file in, the medic and Tommy first, followed by the injured troopers. The last 3 troopers were entering the stairwell when something crashed above them, maybe 2 decks up. It crashed again, louder. Something was trying to break in a door.

"All friendly callsigns, begin rapid decent. Engage targets on sight; unknowns are hostile. Move to Advanced Medical. One speed."

Boots thundered down the stairs as the crashing and banging above grew louder and more frequent.

_Whatever it is, it's really trying._ Tom thought.

The first set of stairs flew by as the assault group turned right to run down the next half flight to the next deck. When they turned again, Tom checked the mark on the wall, labeling their location as DECK B-2, ENGINEERING SECTION 2 – M.A.C. SYSTEMS.

The crashing stopped as something broke and screamed its way through the air, impacted the wall, and came to a very noisy rest. Silence ensued, but whatever it was, it heard their boots running down the last flight of stairs to Deck B-3. It roared, a loud, spine tingling roar, before it began its descent.

_Jumpin' Jesus, it's moving fast!_ Tom thought as the point man reached the door.

"2, open that door!" he called.

**S45, Delta 2, Jai**

**Callsign: Boomer**

**Location: Deck B-2, Primary Stairwell Access**

She came to a dead stop in front of the access pad to the right of the door. It was red.

"2, open that door!" Tom's voice came through her radio.

_Dammit! Blowing it up isn't an option; we're too tight here…wait a sec…_

The others had caught up with her, all facing up the stairs to confront whatever was coming to them.

"Assault group, move down the stairs 1 deck." Jai stated.

"Spartan, what the hell-"

"Do it!" She cut Hammer off as she placed a square packet of C4 towards the bottom of the door along its center line. Tom knew what she was thinking.

"All units, move it!" He yelled.

They ran by her just as she finished rigging the charge to a detonator. She took off after them. When they reached the lower deck, she stopped at the base of the flight.

"Quiet!" She ordered. The assault group stopped all noise, and she listened to the hurried run of the creature coming their way.

_Talk about a fast-mover._ She thought as it slammed into a wall hard enough to make the bulkhead panels creak and contort. It screamed before clawing its way back toward the stairs. 2 decks.

It crashed and scraped its way down the stairs, roaring as it went.

1 deck. Her hand tightened around the trigger. Delta stood by, rifles ready. Dragon surrounded their wounded. She raised her shotgun above her head with her right hand, left hand holding the detonator

A crash from directly above them. Time slowed, as the clawing got longer and louder and everything else faded into black. She was entirely focused upon the target. It screamed, and neared the door.

"Fire in the hole!" She yelled as she squeezed the detonator. The C4 went off, blasting the door and anything near it into pieces, raining debris down the stairs. The screaming stopped. The clawing stopped. Everything was still as the rest of her surroundings came back to her. She replaced the detonator in a vest pouch on her left side and turned to look at her assault group.

"Clear." she said, an air of pride and excitement in her feat.

**S107, Delta 1, Tom**

**Callsign: Boss**

**Location: Deck B-3, Primary Stairwell Access**

Debris flew through the air and down the stairs as silence ensued the blast. Tom checked his motion tracker; just his assault group, nothing else. Jai looked toward them.

"Clear." she said, an air of pride and excitement in her feat.

"Good work, 2." Tom responded. "I think we're clear. All units, move to advanced medical. Stay quiet, check your corners, check your targets. Same formation."

Green lights from his squad, a thumbs-up from Hammer.

Tom moved up the stairs behind Jai, Dragon behind him, 3 and 4 covering the rear. Jai rounded the corner, shotgun raised.

"Clear." She called. They moved up the stairs, through the large hole that was once a door into a hallway littered with broken metal. They were now on Deck B-3, Engineering Section 3 – Primary Weapons Systems. Only 650 meters separated them from the Advanced Medical and Trauma Bay.

"All units, let's move." Tom ordered. They formed up, Delta on point, followed by Dragon, and began a cautious and silent march down the dim and bloody halls.


	8. Chapter 8

**UNSC Spirit of Fire reporting. It's been a while gents, however my plans for this story have finally come through. Here are the details: I thought it would be cool if my close friend Noble Scotsman and I worked in tandem on this story. He has recently moved back from out of state, and I was finally able to work out the final details of this story to the end. He will publish events from the viewpoint of his Spartan III Headhunters, and I will publish events from the viewpoint of Recon Squad Delta. That being said, this story's pieces will be coming out in short order now (and will all be quite awesome, if I do say so myself). In addition, you all should read Noble Scotsman's "Halo: Headhunters" story, as well as his other publications. They're simply excellent. But, I digress. Chapter 8 is now on the front line.**

**Enjoy!**

ONI Sloop **Winter Walker**

Combat Operations Deck - Bridge

Spartan Recon Group Delta: S45 Jai "Boomer", S79 Remy "Psycho", S24 Jackson "Blade", S107 Tom "Boss"

Current Objective: Bring Engines and Communication Systems back online

Secondary Objective: Destroy/Disable Covenant Shipyards in orbit over Scion 4a

ONI Secrets; Part 3

Spartan Recon Squad Delta; Deck B-2, Engineering Section 2 – M.A.C. Systems

The gun lights lit up the entire hall as their boots thudded across the lifeless and eerily silent walks of Deck B-2. Dents in the bulkheads, blood on the floor, emergency lighting turning the space all the more red. They crept through the halls, turning into every open door, ready to shred whatever they found.

Blade stepped in front of a door. A sudden noise, a loud crack, and the sound of a body crumpling to the ground. He swept the room with his rifle and moved back into formation.

Tom switched to his squad's private line.

"3, what'd you just shoot?" he asked.

"A standard Flood form missing his right arm." he responded, a sense of boredom hidden in his voice.

_Careful what you wish for, 3._ Tom thought as he cleared someone's quarters.

Time lulled past, and the assault group moved as silently as they could.

_It's so damn quiet. I really don't like this…_ Tom thought. He checked the waypoint on his HUD. 87 meters to destination. He checked his comms connections. The connection Phoenix was still offline.

_I'll reference our location when we get to the medical bay._

He saw a sign on the wall. It read, "ADVANCED MEDICAL AND TRAUMA CENTER, 50 METERS". There was an arrow pointing them further down the hall. The group moved around a corner, down a small hallway, and passed through a functional double door, 2.5 by 3 meters, where they stopped and stood facing into an open area used to hold patients during combat. Hooks in the ceiling for IV bags, powered slots in the ground for medical equipment. Rectangles that served as resting areas for field beds raised up out of the ground 5 centimeters, with spaces of 2 meters between them, enough for foot traffic and equipment to pass through without disturbing the patients. The space they were in was a large rectangle, 50 meters long, 30 meters wide, and 4.5 meters tall. Another double door, 5 by 4 meters tall, stood open in the center of the left wall, leading to the Medical Bay. On the far side of the room, directly across from them, stood another double door like the one they were standing in front of. The area they were standing in was referred to by medical staff as "the Pavilion".

Since the space was in the center of the ship, there were no windows, and it was one of the most secure places in the entire vessel from assault on the exterior. However, the fight had already reached this place. Dismembered bodies, blood, empty rifle, pistol, and shotgun shells. Lights were shot out, weapons and armor strewn about the room. The place looked like anything but an advanced medical bay. Despite the wreckage, the remaining active LEDs lit the room up quite nicely. Tom noticed that his gun light was no longer active. However, as his eyes adjusted to the overwhelming and as yet un-encountered brightness of the room and as his brain processed what he saw, he noticed something.

_Some of this damage looks older, and some looks more recent. _Tom wondered. The door on the far side of the room had been smashed apart, however the damage was not dealt from the outside to break in; no the door had been smashed out, as if something was trying to escape and had succeeded. He looked to his left and made eye contact with Boomer, and to his right he made contact with Blade, both of whom nodded to him. Psycho's green light flashed once, indicating he knew exactly what they were thinking.

_Was this the origin point of the Flood?_

"Weapons hot. Unknowns are hostile. Secure the Pavilion. Move." the words were quick, monotone; the voice of a soldier who didn't trust the environment around him.

The assault group split into tag teams, groups of 2, and moved down the room, an even spread between them, one staggered row 4 meters ahead of another staggered row; a standard practice for securing large, open spaces with clear lines of sight. They swept the room, every corner of it. They checked bodies, weapons, holes in the walls, anything and everything.

"Room clear. 2, on me.; secure this exit. 3 and 4, seal the far exit. Dragon, secure the Medical Bay entrance. Move." Tom ordered.

Boots thundered as the group separated and moved to their objectives. Tom turned to Boomer in time to see her dragging pieces of door wreckage inside the room from the hall. Her shotgun was up against the wall, her right hand holding the piece of metal, and her left hand holding a Claymore Anti-Personnel Mine. He locked his SMG to his right leg in time for the mine in her hand to come flying to him. He caught it and began to search for a place to hide it.

These particular mines had been around for centuries, which made sense because they worked with few incidents of failure. The only difference between the mine in Tom's hands and the older variants was that this mine didn't rely on a physical tripwire or something of that sort. Instead, it functioned a lot like the sentry turrets; the mine had an advanced motion tracking system and, because the mine directed the explosion in a certain direction, it only had to optically confirm targets standing directly in front of it. As far as anyone knew, these mines had never been the cause of a friendly fire incident. In addition, older variants had to be placed in areas where they could be driven into the ground or stabilized in some way; these mines could be attached to any surface. On the back of the mine, there was an adhesive much like the substance on C4 charges, with one major difference. This adhesive was "flexible", and once it came into contact with a surface and began to stick, it would allow the operator 5 seconds to angle the mine in any direction up to 45 degrees. The adhesive would simply stretch between the mine and the attachment surface and solidify in a way that allowed the mine to remain in the desired position almost perfectly.

_We can't seal this door, so we can at least have a deterrent. These are our alarm and our way of slowing down whatever comes in._

Tom rigged his mine about half a meter back from the left side of the door, armed it, and turned around in time to see another mine flying to him. He caught it without fail, and saw Boomer pointing up at the left corner of the door, near the ceiling. He saw she had already rigged both of her mines and armed them, one hidden behind the wreckage directly behind in front of the door facing into the hall, and the other directly above the door facing straight down. He quickly turned, attached the mine to the ceiling on the left side of the door, angled it down towards the center, and armed it. Though it still faced most of the way into the room, it would certainly surprise anything that walked in front of it. He stepped back, looked at Boomer, who nodded, and they ran to Medical Bay entrance.

The rest of the group had stacked up in a breach formation, with Delta on the right side of the door and Dragon on the left. Something broke the door from the inside out.

_Just like the other entrance…_

"Dragon, breach left. Delta, breach right." Tom ordered as his right shoulder slammed up against the bulk head, his SMG in his hands. He checked the counter in the top right of his HUD; it showed a full magazine. 3 green lights flashed twice. Hammer nodded.

"Breaching!" Tom called as he ran through the door, rifle ready. He ran 2 meters into the room and stopped, clearing his lane of fire as Delta and Dragon filed in, forming a semi-circle inside the entrance of the Medical Bay.

The Medical Bay had 4 zones: Trauma/Operations, Storage, Scanning Rooms, and Research Laboratories, all arranged in their own grid system; each section dominated a 37x25x3 meter tall area. The Pavilion could now be classified as the Stabilization/Recovery area. Trauma/Operations and Scanning Rooms took the left half of the bay, and Storage and Research Labs took the right half. The entire space took up a 75x60x3 meter tall area of the ship.

The place they stood in looked down a hallway that spanned the entire Bay, 10 meters wide. There were 8 doors total, 2 per zone, built like the doors in the Pavilion. The doors of each zone that stood closest to the primary entrance were marked with the words ENTER, and those farther away were marked EXIT.

The place was brightly lit; the whole ceiling looked like it was giving off light. The dull white LEDs lit up a scene of yet more carnage: blood, bodies and various parts, spent casings, half empty rifles.

"Clear!" Hammer called.

"Clear!" Dragon 4 called.

"Clear!" 3 called.

"Entrance clear! Secure the Medical Bay! Move!" Tom ordered. Boots thundered as Tom moved to clear the right side of the hall, Delta in close behind.

Both teams stacked up on the first doors they encountered, Delta on the entrance to Trauma and Dragon on the entrance to Storage. The doors faced each other on opposite ends of the hall. Dragon's door was wide open and Delta's door had been broken open from the inside.

"Sweep and clear. 5 minutes; RV in the hall outside the exits." Tom called. Hammer nodded and began to file into the Storage area. Tom switched back to his squad's channel.

"Breaching!" He called as he brought his SMG to his shoulder and moved through the door.

The lights, half active, shined upon destruction the likes of which could only be caused by a massive application of force. Dents in the wall, a dismembered arm on the floor, the rifle it once held buried in the lights directly above, the ammo counter shuddering with the electricity. He breached forward, his rifle clearing the 25 meter long hallway he faced. 9 meters from the exit, an entrance to another hallway appeared on the right.

He moved forward 3 meters and dropped to one knee, Boomer to his right, who also dropped to one knee. As soon as they went down, Blade's rifle appeared over Boomer's head, just to the right, and Psycho's machine gun appeared over Tom.

"Hallway clear. 3 and 4, peel off and secure the near hall. 2, on me." Tom ordered.

Green lights.

"Shotgun up front." Tom ordered. Boomer moved at a 45 degree angle to a position in front of him, allowing Blade and Psycho to walk past to the nearest hallway entrance. They stacked up, Blade on point, before quickly disappearing into the entrance.

"Clear!" Blade called.

"Copy." Remy stated.

"Copy. Boomer, you're up." She stood and began her movement forward, shotgun on her shoulder, clearing the hallway. Tom stood with her, and turned to face backward, covering their six, watching her movement on the tracker out of the corner of his eye. Her boots crunched on something; it sounded like shattered glass. Her marker disappeared, indicating she had stopped. He stood still, clearing the 22 meters of hallway behind them, listening for anything odd.

"Boss, stack up."

He flashed her a green light before spinning around and taking position directly behind her, shoulder against the wall. He flashed his light again. Precisely 3 seconds later, she surged forward and around the bend. He pursued.

As he rounded the bend, he found her on one knee over what was once the edge of a massive window into one of the trauma rooms. She had it covered. He continued down the hall, 2 meters from her position.

"Hallway clear."

"Room clear."

She stood back up and moved to point. When she was in front of him, he stood and turned to cover their six.

Boots crunched on glass.

"2, secure this room. I'll move to the next. Leapfrog. Meet you at the bend."

Her light flashed green as she moved through what once contained a window to secure the room. He spun around and moved down the hall. He stopped 18 meters down the hall, the halfway point, at the corner of the third of four trauma rooms. The lights from here forward were out. He surged into the room, infrared overlay on his HUD active. The bodies of the trauma crew were strewn about, along with their instruments. There were 2 rifles on the ground, over half spent, shells everywhere.

_They must've gone wide with their shots._ Tom thought. Through the cracked window on the other side of the 10 meter space he saw Blade finish clearing the third and final room in the other hall, and heard Boomer moving behind him to the other room as Psycho came into view, walking down the hall. As he turned to walk out of the room, he looked at the slots in the walls and floor of the room that contained the windows.

_These rooms were outfitted with 8cm thick ballistic windows. But they're shattered. What the hell is going on?_

The windows were known for being practically indestructible by conventional means; shooting them just wasted ammunition since they all would be stopped inside the glass. And breaking them was near impossible. Whatever broke them could generate a lot of force with very little space and, consequently, could do it very quickly.

Tom moved to the last room in his hall, surprised to find that this window wasn't shattered; it was just cracked. Boomer was waiting for him at the bend.

"Area clear." He stated.

"Copy." Came her terse response.

"Move to the exit."

She moved around the corner, Tom behind her, covering their rear. When they passed the secondary hall, he saw Blade and Psycho with their backs to him, clearing the hall. When Boomer reached the exit, her light flashed 3 times, and 3 and 4 came out of the hall and took the rear. Tom spun to relieve Boomer and take point before moving out into the hall right as Dragon squad came out.

5:00 minutes flat.

The squads stayed on their sides of the halls and moved to the next set of doors.

"Same plan." Tom called over the comm.

Dragon rushed into the third room, the Research Laboratories. Gun fire ensued; a handful of rounds were let free. They continued to move forward.

Delta stacked up on the entrance to the scanning rooms. The exit door on the far side had been blown out; the entrance Delta was next to had minor damages to the exterior going inward. It was a reinforced door, designed to keep whatever radiation managed to get free inside the room.

"Boomer! Rip this door!" Tom called.

When she moved to place the charge, Tom stepped back to fill her position. She slung her shotgun and pulled out a breaching charge, borders marked in yellow, indicating it to be a Directed Breaching Charge.

It slammed against the wall, she activated the charge's timer, and took position in front of Tom.

"Breaching!" she called.

The charge detonated, blasting the door out of its position and straight back into the room. She moved in, Tom close behind.

"Breach right!" she yelled.

She dropped to one knee 1 meter from the door, facing right from the entrance. Tom saw the wall of a scanning room directly in front of the entrance; the cause for the need to breach right. He took position 1 meter to her left and took a knee. 3 and 4 charged in and took positions behind them, weapons over their heads. They stared into a darkened room, with only a few scattered and malfunctioning lights to go by. Empty rifle cases, half a dead marine, a number of bloody piles, and a rifle broken in half. Their IR overlays came online, illuminating the room with a green hue.

"Clear!" Tom called.

Green lights.

"Split and secure the room! 5 minutes! Go!"

Each hall was 22 meters long, 2 meters wide, and had 2 scanning rooms connected to it on the left side. Each room was 11 meters long and 5.6 meters across, with the entrances being the doors closest to the entry of the hall, and the exits on the far side of each room.

Tom stormed the closest hall, bracing himself against the wall to the left of the hallway. He saw the rest of Delta move to the other halls. He moved around the corner, SMG to his shoulder, eyes down the sight. Something moved down the hall. He fired, the shredders in his SMG tearing the target to pieces. It fell without a sound, collapsing on the floor in a pile.

"Hall clear! Proceeding with operation!" He called out over the comm line.

The first entrance was a meter down the hall to his left. The door was closed, and surprisingly in one piece. He stacked himself against the wall to the left of the door, counted to three, moved to a position directly in front of the door, leveled his weapon at the entry, and hit the activation switch on the right of the door. It slid open with a creek, indicating that something was wrong with the door's systems. It slid to the right and jammed halfway open. The space beyond was near pitch dark.

_It's thin._ He thought. He raised his left knee up to his chest and brought his foot down on the door with all of his weight. The half that was exposed explosively broke free from its port, bending around the frame into the room. He ran through the opening and came to a standing halt 1 meter from the entrance just as his gun light came online. He swept the room with the bright white beam, exposing broken scanning and computer equipment, pieces of bodies and armor, shells from rifles and side-arms. One of the flood forms was slumped against the wall near the exit, but nothing stirred in that room.

Just then, shots rang out. Assault rifle fire from across the hall. Just as quickly as it started, it stopped. Hammer's voice came through the comm system.

"All clear! Situation under control!" He called.

A single loud blast, quickly followed by 2 more. Shotgun fire.

"Target neutralized! Moving on!" Boomer's voice came through.

Tom's room was clear. He moved to the exit door, moved through it, and encountered the body he'd shot earlier. A medic, badly injured through blunt trauma to critical areas of his body. He was stone dead.

Tom grabbed his tags and moved to the next door, sliding the tags into the pouch on his hip where the others were stored. Lights were on in this room, and the door was broken from the outside in, but this damage looked different. It almost looked like…

_A breaching charge?_ Tom thought

He moved through the entrance, weapon ready. His IR overlay and gun light deactivated and his eyes instantly adjusted to the elevated light levels in the room. Nothing there. The scanners were smashed, and the computers damaged, like the other room. But somebody had repaired the interface systems for the computers.

_What the hell?_ He thought to himself.

The screen was still activated, displaying results of the latest scans conducted in this room. He set a waypoint for his current location and began to move to the exit.

_Click_

The noise was ever so slight, but Tom heard it. He spun around, ready for anything. But nothing was there. Everything was just as he'd remembered it.

_Wait, that computer just shut down._

The screens in the room went dark. But no one was operating them.

_That was done by an A.I._ The thought was sudden, but something within him told him that it was true. There was an A.I. onboard; it was watching their every move. But it wasn't Phoenix. It couldn't be.

Or could it…?

_No time. Gotta move._ The thought rang out like a shot in his mind, and he turned and moved through the exit, back into the dark hallway back to his squad.

"You're late." Psycho said, a slight hint of mockery in his voice.

"I'll explain later. Move to the RV. WE'RE late." Came Tom's response.

They formed up around Psycho and moved out into the hall, where they found Dragon already practically making themselves at home.

"Never known Spartans to be late." Hammer teased.

A few crack-ups from the Marines.

"Delta, take Dragon's medic and find a way to fix our injured."

Green lights as they walked towards the Trauma/Operations section with Dragon's wounded and their medic, who still carried Tommy.

Tom turned back to Hammer.

"I assume the research labs are secure?" Tom asked.

"Affirmative, but something weird happened in there."

His interest piqued.

"Weird, how?"

"We encountered a single Flood form, blood, guts, and guns scattered around, but we also found a single active computer, with data displayed on it. It looked like some kind of DNA manipulation research or something. When I went to check it out, the computer just died. Not from damage though. It was like someone just turned the damn thing off when I got too close."

"Same thing happened with me. I found an active computer in one of the scanning rooms. When I set a waypoint and turned to leave, it shut off. From what I could tell, it looked like they were monitoring DNA mutations and calculating the physical effects of those mutations."

"Why would ONI be interested in DNA mutation?"

"Judging by the unusual size, strength, and seeming intelligence of the Flood, my squad and I suspect that ONI is manufacturing Flood forms with Spartan enhancements."

"What, you mean these Flood things are just bigger, badder, and more zombie-like versions of YOU guys?"

"You got it."

Hammer stood in shock.

"That's fucked up, man. Real fucked up." He mumbled.

"Shake it off trooper. We're still standing, and now we have some quiet. Let's patch our guys up and move to secure-"

He was cut off by screams. Flood screams. And lots of them.

"Doc, stay here and guard Tommy! The rest of you, on me! Hold this location!" Tom called over the comm.

Boots thundered as the assault group ran to the Pavilion, weapons hot. They ran out into the room and Tom threw up a fist. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

"What is it?" Hammer asked, voice full of anxiety.

"Silence on deck." Tom said. Everything went silent, and Tom's ears strained for any sign as to wear the danger was coming from. A scream from the halls on their right, through the functional door.

"Secure the hall! Move!" Tom ordered.

They stacked up on the door, weapons on their shoulders, Delta on the right and Dragon on the left.

"Breaching!" Tom yelled.

The door opened as they poured through into the hall, their gun lights active. Whatever was coming, it wasn't anywhere to be found.

_What's that?_ Tom thought.

His light shone on something distorted. It looked like…

_A Spartan?_

"Targets sighted!" Dragon 3 yelled.

They raised their weapons to a pair of figures running down the hall. But they didn't show up on Tom's motion tracker.

_What the hell are they?_

While his tracker didn't pick up the figures, it did pick up the hoard of Flood behind them. Before he could fire, the 2 figures dived, rolled, and turned to engage the targets as 2 more of them appeared out of thin air as they moved around the corner. They opened fire, a whole array of weapons firing down the hall. The Flood began to fall.

Something exploded. A bulkhead down the hall. 2 more figures came flying out of the wall, one holding a knife, the other holding a Covenant Energy Sword.

The 4 in front stopped firing as the other 2 shredded the final few targets.

A short pause. The 4 in front reloaded and turned to face the assault group. One of the figures reached up to his helmet and twisted it to the right, breaking his armor's seal. He took it off and glanced over his shoulder at the others behind him, who followed suit. A redheaded boy stepped forward, crossing his arms and bearing a fierce smile, his eyes boring through Tom's visor.

"Oh, look. Spartan IIs. More pests. Great."


	9. Chapter 9

Ladies and Gents, I realize that it's been quite some time, but I think the chapter makes up for that. Hope you like it!

ONI Sloop **Winter Walker**

Primary Engineering and Medical Deck – Advanced Medical and Trauma Center

Spartan Recon Group Delta: S45 Jai "Boomer", S79 Remy "Psycho", S24 Jackson "Blade", S107 Tom "Boss"

Current Objective: Bring Engines and Communication Systems back online

Secondary Objective: Destroy/Disable Covenant Shipyards in orbit over Scion 4

ONI Secrets; Part 4 – The Truth Realized

Spartan Recon Squad Delta; Deck B-2, Engineering Section 2 – Advanced Medical and Trauma Center

"Oh look. Spartan IIs. More pests. Great." The red haired one spoke, sarcasm soaking every word.

"Silence on deck," The blonde one ordered. Red snickered, but seemed to back down. "Nobody said anything about SPARTANs on board." Blonde directed his voice at the assault group.

"No one said anything about kids on board either." Blade sassed back.

"3, lock it down. Identify yourselves." Tom ordered.

"Spartan 0867, callsign Lethe, Phi Squad lead. The others are Paen, Oracle, Element, Scalpel, and Dagger," he said as he gestured to each member of his team. "Your turn."

_They're kids. Way too young to be Spartans like us. What the hell are they?_

"S107, callsign Boss, Delta Squad lead. This is Delta 2, callsign Boomer; Delta 3, callsign Blade; Delta 4, callsign Psycho," Tom gestured to his squad mates. "And this is Hammer, Dragon Squad Lead and his MP Marines."

"Glad to see there are some survivors." Lethe replied.

"We may be the only ones."

"In any case, it'll be beneficial to work together."

"Affirmative. Initiate full synchronization."

"Phi squad, establish connection." Lethe ordered as he put his helmet back on. The rest followed suit, and a second later, 6 new names and readings came up under a new listing: Phi Squad.

Delta and Dragon hooked in to Phi's systems as well, completing the sync. Everyone was now on the same page and comm frequency.

"What are you and how did you get here?" Tom asked.

"Long story." Lethe responded.

"We've got time."

"No, we don't. My legs hurt from standing around and the doc lounge probably has some nice chairs." The red haired one, Paen, said caustically.

"Paen, don't be an ass." The teal-haired Element lightly punched him in the shoulder.

"He has a point. The medical bay is secure. Let's go there and talk while we treat our wounded." Tom stated.

"Agreed. We'll follow you." Lethe responded.

Paen snickered as they moved into the Pavilion in time to see Dragon's medic running out of the bay, SMG in hand.

"Report." Tom raised his weapon.

"Is everything under control?" He asked anxiously.

"Yes. We made some new friends."

"I can see that. You sure everything's ok?"

"Affirmative."

"Dammit. I was hoping I'd get to shoot something..." Doc mumbled as he walked back into the bay, head down.

"How's Tommy looking?"

"He's fine. Got him all wired." He said as he turned to face Tom.

"Then you can look at 4?"

"Yes. Delta 4, follow me to Trauma and Operations, bed 3."

"Alright..." Psycho growled. He slung his SAW and began to walk behind Doc to Trauma Room 3. No use arguing with the medic.

"I'll send you my readings on 4." Tom called to the medic.

"Sounds good!" Doc called back.

"The rest of you, scatter. Stay alert. Phi lead, I'd like a word with you." Tom ordered.

"Phi squad, park it somewhere. I'll be back."

The assault group dispersed, leaving Tom and Lethe enough room to talk without being overheard.

"See a place that strikes your fancy?" Tom asked.

"That corner looks nice." Lethe responded, gesturing to an isolated corner in the medical bay.

They walked over to a pair of chairs near a small table that protruded from the bulkhead as Tom sent his information on Psycho to Doc. They sat down, removing their helmets and locking their weapons to their respective holsters as they did so.

Tom started by quickly bringing Lethe up to date on Delta's situation, giving a brief overview of their objective when they went under in CRYO and events transpired after his awakening.

"Sounds like there's dirty work afoot." Lethe responded.

Lethe gave a skeleton version of his arrival on board the sloop, being careful to leave out the more classified details. _*If you want to know details on Phi Squad's arrival on board the Winter Walker, read Noble Scotsman's story "Halo:Headhunters"_

"Even ONI wouldn't make a random transfer like that without some shady reason. There's something more to this." Tom said.

"The same thought ran through my head..." Lethe trailed off as he thought about the look Mel had given Dagger in the Pelican. Did she know something?

"You look distracted. Something you're not telling me?" Tom asked, his face deadpan, but his morale slightly lifted at the sight of Lethe's expression, displaying his shock that a complete stranger could read him so well.

"Just thinking about the ulterior motive behind our run." Lethe replied. A technical truth.

"What about it?"

As Lethe struggled to come up with an answer that didn't give away classified details, Doc walked up to their table.

Lethe looked visibly relieved.

"Delta lead, Delta 4's reaction to CRYO has been identified. The drugs that keep people stable in CRYO occasionally don't absorb and disperse well into the system. The result is a rejection of the chemicals, which plays hell with the brain's ability to send, receive, and interpret signals from the nervous system, essentially disorienting the brain. He should be functional in some 30 minutes. I'd still recommend getting him full medical attention in a more...functional facility as soon as possible, however I can fix him enough to eliminate pain, stabilize the rejection, and restore his eye sight. He'll be good for some time, but his body needs a detox in order to completely remove the drugs from his system." Doc stated.

"Thanks Doc. How's Tommy?" Tom asked.

"He's out of the fight. Best I can do is set his bones, put him in a shell, and bio-foam the shit out of him, but that won't last forever. I'd recommend not moving him for a while but, since that's not an option, I'll patch him up as best I can. Shouldn't take long."

"You have 30 minutes. Make it happen."

"Yes sir." Doc turned and moved back to Trauma and Operations.

Tom turned back the Lethe.

"We need to get this ship back online." Tom said.

_He's hiding something, but I'll either find out about it later or I'll never know. Probably best I go with the second one._ Tom thought.

"We were sent by the Captain to re-establish communications, both internal and external. But we have bigger problems. The systems that are the most critical are the security and life support systems. In addition, if we're going to get anywhere and let people know what's going on, we'll need our engines and communications systems back. All are accessible through Main Engineering." Tom stated.

"Right. And if we need to do more detailed work, we can move from there to the specified control regions for each system." Lethe responded, relieved that he wouldn't have to try to lie to an original Spartan.

"Precisely. However, what we need right now are the life support systems. Or we can hold our breaths. If I remember correctly-" Tom was cut off by Lethe, who held his left hand out palm up, tapped a control on the underside of his arm, and activated a holographic map of the ship, which quickly broke apart into the individual decks and separated each cluster of decks into their respective sections.

"The fastest access from here is through CRYO." Lethe stated.

"That's helpful. But you're right; CRYO. Once that's back online, we'll need control of the security systems. Help clear the halls a little, make it easier to get around. Being able to establish a security over watch in conjunction with life support would be best." Tom said.

"Split up?"

"I think so."

"My squad can handle security; we passed near it on our sweep up to here. We'll bring it back online if we can." Lethe stated.

"My squad can handle life support. If this map is correct, life support is in one of the vented areas of the ship. Our armor can hold 20 minutes worth of air before we need to get back in atmosphere. What can yours hold?"

"5. Not build for E.V.A. Security has minimum survivable atmosphere, but it's slowly venting. We can move to this corridor here, where we have atmosphere, and hold until you bring life support online. From there, it'll take us maybe 5 minutes to get to security."

"I assume you came here in a Pelican, right?" Tom asked.

"Yes. What's it matter?"

"We may need an escape or a faster way of getting around. But if worst comes to worst, there's not enough room for all of us. Dragon can sweep down to the hangar and see if there are any rides. If not, they can secure the engines."

"Sounds good. When do we start?" Lethe asked.

"When Doc says we're-"

"All clear? Well, we are. What's the plan?" Doc said.

All squads suddenly converged around their corner, listening. Tommy came out of Trauma and Operations and stood at the back of the group.

Damn time goes by quick. Tom thought.

"We're moving out. Delta, we will secure and re-establish life support. Phi, you will bring security back online. Because security is venting atmo, you'll move to this location and hold there until life support is back online; shouldn't take long. Dragon, you will move to the hangar and see what kind of toys ONI's given us to play with. If there's anything down there, make sure it's fully functional and ready for immediate deployment. If there's nothing there, move to and secure the engines. Start repairs if you can. Rules of engagement: all unknowns are hostile; keep quite unless given reason to act otherwise. Use squad-comms only unless you need to raise someone else. Sound good?" Tom asked.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Let's move." Tom ordered.

"Dragon, get combat ready! I wanna be out those doors in 2 minutes!" Hammer barked as Dragon raced into action.

"Phi Squad, on me." Lethe calmly ordered as he slipped his helmet on, the rest following suit. They marched straight to the functioning door, and as they passed through, they seemingly melted into the darkness, disappearing almost completely as the door closed behind them.

_Handy._ Tom thought.

"4, how are you feeling? Really?" Tom asked.

"Fully functional, cleared by the medic. Standing by for tasking." came his deadpan response.

"Excellent. Delta, form up," He ordered as his helmet came over his head and his SMG came to bear. "Fastest way to Life Support is through CRYO. Let's move."

"Sir, are we leaving those claymores?" Boomer asked.

"Pack 'em in. We'll need them. 1 per person." Tom stated.

Delta moved to the blown out door that would put them on their path to CRYO, disarmed the mines, and locked them to a holster on their lower backs before giving their weapons a once over and entering the reddened halls outside.

Hammer could still be faintly heard hazing Tommy about "getting his Marine ass beat by a goddamn zombie" as they rounded a corner down the hall to the left of the door. Soon, all was quiet as they stalked through the halls, weapons raised and ears open. Suddenly, the red emergency lights in the floor went out.

_More A.I. activity…_ Tom thought as Delta's IR Overlay came online and lit up the halls before them, illuminating bodies missing limbs, armor missing occupants, and brass casings ejected from all manner of firearms in the green display of night vision optics. Despite the eerie setting, they moved ahead into the black towards the door that would take them down a few flights of stairs, through CRYO, and out into space, where Life Support Systems Control awaited them.

**Alleged Captain Amelia Claston**

**Location: Everywhere and Nowhere**

"And there they go, unknowing." the computers echoed with her voice. Since the almost complete systems shutdown, it was nice and quiet. "This is where things get interesting. They have a plan. How cute."

They entered the hall, and out of sheer impulse, she killed the lights and took delight as they slowed down the slightest bit.

_A.I. soldiers have no delays, and no regrets. These Spartans are imperfect._ She thought.

"Never underestimate Spartans." Phoenix's voice came to her. "They're good at what they do for a reason, and won't stop until their objective is completed."

"Oh? Is that so?" she responded.

"Yes, it is."

"Let's test that theory, shall we?" she said, evil in her tone.

"What will you do?" Phoenix asked, internally concerned but externally detached.

"I will see how dedicated they really are to this plan of theirs."

"Haven't you done enough? You and those Holo-Drones breached the ship, released the Flood, let them kill everything they could find, destroyed a very expensive ship, and thwarted one of the single most important missions in the Human-Covenant War – the destruction of the Scion 4 shipyards. Besides, if you fail, your run the risk of everything being destroyed, something Spartans can easily do."

"You talk too much." She threw back sarcastically. Code surged through her systems.

"What are you doing?" Phoenix said, concern starting to show.

"You've done your part. Good bye, Phoenix." She began shutting down his servers, slowly, one by one, the equivalent of torturing someone to death.

"You can't do this!" Panic now beginning to show.

"Watch me." Suddenly, Phoenix disappeared from the ship's computers. She scanned the entire ship for him, barely containing her excitement. He had been deleted.

"Now, I will KILL these Spartans. Every. Last. One!" Her laughter echoed through the empty systems of the ship as she began her work.

**S107, Delta 1, Tom**

**Callsign: Boss**

**Location: Between Decks B-5 and B-6, Stairwell 5**

Tom stopped moving as the hairs stood up on his neck and he shuddered.

"Boss, you alright?" 3 asked.

"Affirmative. Stack up on the door."

Tom took his position to the right of the door by the access panel, Boomer behind him, with Blade and Psycho on the left. Green lights flashed, and Tom hit the OPEN button on the panel before leaning back against the wall, letting Blade and Psycho move through the door into the hall outside. To their collective surprise, there were lights still active. It was when Tom entered the hall that he realized that the only lights active were the ones in front of the door.

_Great…_ Tom thought as his squad took a left turn that would take them near the CRYO Bay and, eventually, into the Life Support Control Room.

Little resistance was encountered on the quiet and darkened walk towards CRYO. Suddenly, every light went dead. Complete darkness surrounded Delta. Their IR deactivated as their lights came on. They continued forward.

Seconds later, they all stopped, listening intently. Something had just clicked near them – a seal had been broken. Suddenly, a door flew open at their 4:30, clanking loudly, and they spun to engage. Their lights shined on nothing.

_What the hell is going on?_ Tom thought.

As suddenly as it opened, it slammed closed with a loud clap.

_That was too fast. Something is propelling that door, and it's not a mechanical failure._

It opened again, faster and louder this time, and instantly closed again. It continued to open and close, getting faster and louder each time, and the door began to creak from the stresses being placed on it.

"Delta, we need to move! That's gonna draw-" before he could finish his sentence, something crashed against a door at their 9. It scratched against the door, before slamming it again. A loud scream from the direction they had come from, which was quickly swallowed up in a chorus of noise, everything from low growls to high pitched yelps. The door at the 9 broke away, revealing a Flood form in Marine MP Armor.

"Go loud! Get to CRYO!" Tom yelled, shooting the Flood form with a 5 round burst to the head. The form dropped without another sound. Boomer pulled a frag grenade from her harness, armed it, and hurled in down the hall behind them as they turned and ran further down the hall. Tom disabled his Pathfinder overlay so as to not confuse himself. The rest of Delta quickly followed suit, continuing the sprint towards the waypoint marking the CRYO bay. A form ran out from around a corner just before a wall of fire set it ablaze and knocked it against the bulkhead.

Tom took a left turn, following a sign on the wall that read, "CRYO Bay, 75 meters". He made the turn, and the waypoint appeared on his HUD on the left side.

"Boss, we can't run forever! What's the plan?" Blade's voice came through the radio.

"Only 1 entrance to CRYO!" He responded.

Delta took a left turn towards the waypoint. At the end of the hall stood the open doors that would take them directly to the brightly lit CRYO Bay.

_We'll concentrate them into one door, then blast 'em_. Tom thought.

He heard the pin to another grenade pop, and heard the grenade bouncing down the hall behind them.

"Flashbang!" Boomer yelled.

The grenade detonated far enough away to have reduced effects, but close enough to make the Spartan's ears ring.

The squad crossed the line in the ground through which the CRYO Bay doors used to slide, ran a distance inside, decelerated to a full stop, spun around, and aimed down the hall at the hoard that followed them. It pulsed, moving erratically as the forms inside moved at different speeds, swung different limbs.

"Hold!" Tom called.

The hoard charged closer. Tensions rose. Heartbeats thumped. Fingers tightened around triggers, hands grasped forward grips. Suddenly, everything slowed. The mass of bodies reached the door.

"Fire!" The words escaped him at an unbelievably slow pace as the tensions broke and hails of bullets flew towards the gathering of Flood, desperate to get through to them. Tracers left brilliant lines in the brightened room, impacting targets and tearing them to pieces. Shredders ripped limbs off of the Flood, dragging trails of blood behind them that turned into perfectly spherical droplets as they soared through the air. Walls of fire impacted and sent flying multiple forms at once, igniting some in bright fire and darkening the skin of others as the phosphorus coated shot left deep burns inside them.

Something pulsed red on his motion tracker on his 5:30, and as he turned to engage, he saw more Flood pouring through the hole in the wall.

"Psycho, suppressing fire!" Tom called, the words so slow it was almost painful. Psycho spun, his LMG ready, and his tracers arced through the air into this new mass, the AP rounds leaving big holes in their bodies as they cut through form after form, continuing seemingly forever into the crowd. Behind him, he heard Boomer's 1216 thumping, Blade's DMR cracking as the red began to thin. Tom's eyes locked on to a target, his body reflexively brought his SMG to bear, and he fired. The form fell, time resumed its course, and he realized that he had killed the last target. They waited a few seconds.

"Clear!" Blade called, his eyes down the enhanced zoom optic on his rifle.

"Clear." Psycho stated, dead pan.

"Not for long." Tom ordered.

He quickly swapped magazines and stood, inspecting the battle field. He had no idea how many he'd killed, but the number was large, he was sure of it. And that meant more were coming.

He heard empty magazines hit the floor, new ones slam into place. Bolts were yanked, actions cycled, and Delta reset their weapons for the next engagement. Tom remembered something he was told on Reach by the Big Man in Green, Drill Sergeant Hillerson, who said, "Reload after every engagement. It's better to have a full magazine and know what's going on than to be caught half-empty in a place where you need every round you can get."

Tom brought his Pathfinder back online, which took a second to calculate the best route for them to follow before displaying a blue line through the hole in the wall.

"Delta, let's move." Tom ordered. They fell into formation and followed him to the hole.

_Wait, this is where that woman was…_ Tom thoughts were cut short as he began to jog through the hole. Delta obediently followed, albeit slightly confused. He turned right, and came to a sudden halt as his eyes took in the sight of a female body, clad in the gray and black of the UNSC.

_5 foot, 8 inches, blonde hair…_ Tom moved to her and looked at her face. Recognition reached him.

"Holy shit, that's…" Blade stuttered.

"Captain Amelia Claston. K.I.A." Tom responded.

"What the hell? That doesn't make any sense!" Boomer said, confusion in her voice.

"Was the other Captain a fake?" Blade asked.

"Pretty damn good fake." Psycho stated.

"Yeah. Too good…" Tom said as he came to one knee and looked into her eyes, still open and staring emptily at the ceiling. They were wild with fear.

_No way._ Tom thought.

It all made sense. The unusual emotional aggression from the captain, the all-to-cliché clueless act, the nonsensical orders, the fear in her eyes…

"Delta, the Amelia Claston we know is not human. She is an A.I. And not only that, she's rampant." Tom stated.

"That would explain all the weirdness that's happened up till now. Meeting Dragon and Phi like we did was very convenient." Blade said.

"Plus the doors in the hall just now." Psycho added.

"On the bridge, all I did was step closer to her, but she displayed the kind of fear that only comes out when death is imminent. Also, that kind of wild and nonsensical behavior is unbecoming of an officer, especially one commanding an ONI sloop." Tom said.

"We've been played this whole fucking time, eh?" Blade asked sarcastically.

"I'm afraid so. Nevertheless, we have a job to do and people who are counting on us. Let's-" Tom was cut off by a voice.

"De…n…..you….hear…..Tom…help…..! It….Phoenix!" Suddenly, he felt a cool rush down his spine and in his head.

"Phoenix, is that you?" Tom asked incredulously. His speakers popped, and Phoenix's voice came through his squad's comms, but the origin was Tom.

"Yes, it's me. Delta, I have some very important intel for you."


End file.
